Cutting Wind
by lightning king
Summary: Betrayal. Sakura has betrayed Konoha along with Sasuke leaving behind a broken Naruto. That breaking results in a maturer Naruto whose eyes have been opened. Learning about nature manipulation, Naruto sets out to create a skill that cuts... everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Prologue:**

"Sasuke-kun, please I will do anything. Please just be with me. Even if that means taking me with you, I just want to be with you!" Sakura pleaded with her teammate and crush.

Sasuke looked back at the pink-haired girl who professed to love him enough to leave the village with him. He was about to deny her outright, but then he cocked his head and analyzed the situation. Maybe a follower who would do anything he said would be good. Orochimaru should be able to train her to be at least helpful.

"Ok, Sakura. You can come with me." Sasuke ended up saying. Sakura's face expressed her surprise, and then, her joy. She immediately set off after her love. Sakura and Sasuke disappeared into the night.

**Chapter 1: Next Day**

"Man! Lunch sure was good today!" Naruto yelled out. "Thanks, Old Man. Your ramen always hits the spot!" Naruto said while laughing. Naruto left his money on the bar and walked out of the ramen stand. Walking down the street, Naruto decided to go see if he could find his teammates.

After over an hour of fruitless searching, he was starting to get annoyed. Naruto had checked Sasuke's and Sakura's houses and neither was there. He had checked their typical training ground and even a couple of restaurants. He couldn't find them anywhere! He finally got lucky and spotted Kakashi-sensei walking down the street (book in hand of course).

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled out. Kakashi looked up to see his most unpredictable genin running towards him. Kakashi sighed as that meant he would have to stop reading his Icha Icha, and he had just got done with that mission too.

"Kakashi-sensei, have you seen Sakura-chan or Sasuke? I mean I already checked their houses and everything. Sakura-chan's mother even said that she hadn't shown up last night! What if something happened?" Naruto exclaimed when he got in front of his sensei.

Kakashi started giggling perversely as his mind went into overdrive at the information his genin just told him. _Maybe Sasuke finally decided to sample the offering_, he thought lewdly. Unfortunately for Kakashi's fantasies, he remembered Orochimaru's parting words to him. _Sasuke-kun will come to me. He will come seeking power!_

Slightly concerned but still hoping for a perverted ending, Kakashi decided to check at a couple of discreet places to see if he could round up his missing students. First he had to deal with his other student who seemed to be jumping around everywhere... _Oh yea, I have been silent for like two minutes. That is way to long for Naruto to sit still. _Kakashi thought with a sweat-drop.

"Don't worry, Naruto. I will go search for them right away. Though, you know, you might not like the outcome." With those wise words of forewarning, Kakashi went off to hopefully find his two genin.

Naruto looked at his sensei's back in confusion. _What the hell did that mean_? Shaking his head at his strange sensei, Naruto went off to continue his search. There were still some places he had not checked yet after all.

Hours later, Kakashi was starting to get extremely worried. Worried enough to go to Tsunade to find his missing students. He had searched hours without a sign of them anywhere. No one reported to having seen them since yesterday. As Naruto had said, Sakura's mother said that Sakura hadn't even come home last night. What really worried him though was that some of Sasuke's things were missing from his house. Kakashi knew that couldn't be good.

"Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said when he came before his leader. "I believe it pertinent to send out shinobi to look for Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Both seem to be missing with no one knowing of their whereabouts since yesterday. I have also confirmed that some of Sasuke's things are missing from his house. I believe the worse." Kakashi said with despair.

Tsunade was slightly shocked. She knew that Orochimaru had gotten his grip on the Uchiha's mind, but she didn't have a clue why a girl like Sakura would be with them. She almost thought they were off on a tryst, but Kakashi wouldn't have come in without ruling that possibility out. She pondered for a moment before making a decision.

"Kakashi! Take chunin Shikamaru and genin Naruto and search along the route to the Land of Rice. If they really have left then we are way behind on getting them back! I want you gone in no less than twenty minutes!" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" Kakashi saluted before body-flickering away. Tsunade rubbed her hands against her eyes as this new disaster promised to be embarrassing for the village as a whole. To have the Uchiha leave the village and no one was the wiser would be a hard blow to Konoha. Many of the daimyos had specifically came to the last Chunin Exam just to see the boy. If the information got out that the boy left without anyone knowing about it, then Konoha would be a laughing-stock to other nations. She decided to end her headache like she did all the others. She dragged her sake bottle from out of the drawer and proceeded to get drunk.

Kakashi quickly rounded up the people Tsunade assigned on the mission. Naruto was there for sentimental value in hope to convince them to come back. Shikamaru was there for his capturing abilities as well as his brain. They left the village with five minutes to spare. Of course, Kakashi hadn't yet told Naruto why they were going on an A-rank mission. He couldn't stand to have that headache on his head right that moment. Naruto wouldn't be... happy with the news. To say the least.

After traveling miles through the woods with no clue at where they were going, Naruto's curiosity finally got the better of him. "Kakashi-sensei." Naruto called out. "Where are we going? And why did we have to bring Shikamaru along!" Naruto asked with a very confused look on his face.

"Well..." Kakashi began. He just knew this wouldn't end well. "Tsunade-sama believes that Sasuke has left the village to search out Orochimaru. Our mission is to try and retrieve him. The only problem is that we are hours if not a full day behind. Shikamaru is along with us because of his family's unique jutsu that will allow us to capture Sasuke if we happen to run into him." Kakashi yelled out to a Naruto who was dropping farther and farther back.

Naruto eventually came to a complete stop as he tried to process the information his sensei had just dropped on him. His mind went blank for a bit as he tried to wrap it around the idea of Sasuke willingly going to some freak.

"Ha ha, Kakashi-sensei. You must be joking right?" Naruto pleaded when he caught back up to the duo. Kakashi and Shikamaru had not stopped when Naruto did. Shikamaru was surprised himself. He didn't have any clue at why Sasuke would go to a missing-nin, but for whatever reason, he knew that it was not good.

"I am sorry, Naruto. All the evidence points towards Sasuke leaving. Also..." Kakashi slowed down his pace as he delivered even worse news to his student. "It seems like Sakura went with him."

As soon as those words left his sensei's lips, Naruto's world crashed. His beloved Sakura-chan... had followed the teme to some freak! No! She couldn't have!

"Kakashi-sensei, please stop kidding around?" Naruto begged with tears in his eyes. "Sakura-chan and Teme both would never do something like that. Right? Please tell me you are lying, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he acknowledged within him that the girl he loved had betrayed the village. Had betrayed him! Just to follow the Teme. To follow Sasuke! Naruto let the tears flow freely as he finally recognized the fact that he would never go out with Sakura. Now all that was left was to catch up with them and find out the ultimate truth.

Naruto suddenly sent a surplus of chakra to his legs as he sped up greatly. He was going to find the both of them, and... Naruto really didn't know what he would do when he caught up with them. As he agonized over these thoughts, more and more red chakra was flowing around his legs. Naruto's speed went faster and faster.

Shikamaru was stunned. To find out Sasuke had left the village was bad enough, but to find out that Sakura left with him! And they both went over to a missing-nin from Konoha! If he heard that story on the street, he would laugh it off as a good joke. This situation was utterly ridiculous. Shikamaru couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Sakura was that enamored of Sasuke. The dude was a brooding bastard who hardly ever said a word. How any girl could betray everything they ever stood for for _that_ was beyond his understanding.

"Naruto, slow down! We are setting a fast pace anyway. You don't need to burn extra chakra to go even faster and leave us both behind." Kakashi yelled out. By now, Naruto was already a good 100 yards ahead, and he seemed to just be pulling farther away. Kakashi sighed in frustration as Naruto payed absolutely no attention to his words. He pumped extra chakra into his legs as well and just hoped that Shikamaru could keep up.

The three sped off into the forest hoping to find the duo before they passed the border. After a hour of extreme running, they got their answer. They were too late. When they finally reached the Valley of the End, the sight that greeted them was of Sakura and Sasuke, along with four others, standing on the statue of Madara Uchiha.

The world which crashed earlier for Naruto was shattered. He had initially hoped that everything was a big misunderstanding, but now he could see the truth. Sasuke had left, and Sakura had followed. His Sakura-chan who he had always adored. His Sakura-chan who he had always admired. His Sakura-chan who he had professed his love to. All of that was betrayed! All of his love and admiration and care was betrayed! For him! Sasuke Uchiha!

"Sasuke!" Naruto roared out. And it was a magnificent roar! Backed by the Kyuubi's chakra, what would normally be a loud yell was turned into the roar of a beast. An angry beast that wanted only one thing: revenge.

Sasuke and Sakura looked back the way they had come in surprise. What confronted them was not an animal like they had first thought but there sensei and teammate. Raising his eyebrow, Sasuke gave a condescending smirk at what he already considered his past. He was already beyond the losers of Konoha, and he wouldn't let them take him back. He finally had the opportunity he had always wanted. He could finally achieve the power to kill his brother!

"Shouldn't you losers be back in Konoha chasing a kitten or something?" Sasuke asked condescendingly. Sakura, at his side, really just wanted to leave as she wasn't 100% comfortable with leaving the village yet. That feeling had only been reinforced when she met the escort for their trip. They had thrown a lot of scorn at her for being useless. Sakura's eyes narrowed though at the thought of her Sasuke-kun. She would get strong. She would surpass everybody (except Sasuke)! She would be useful to her love! 

"Sasuke, Sakura, get your freaking asses back here now!" Naruto yelled out with rage. Shikamaru was slightly surprised. He had _never_ seen Naruto this mad. He was kinda expecting Naruto to start either frothing at the mouth or just rush in and attack. _Naruto must be really shaken up to be this mad. I wonder though... what is with that red chakra that keeps gathering around him?_

"Hn, the dobe thinks to order me around? As if!" Sasuke yelled. "I can finally get what I have always wanted. With Orochimaru's aid, I will finally get the power to destroy my brother. I will finally actually move forward instead of that stupid crawl I was moving at in Konoha!" Sasuke ranted. "I mean look! I started out so much stronger than you, but you kept getting stronger and stronger while I gained nothing! Not anymore. I will finally gain the strength that has always been my right! And no one will stand in my way, Naruto. NO ONE!"

Kakashi's eyes widened at the rant of his student. He winced in pain at the message, but he was honestly surprised at just how bad the boy had gotten. Konoha should have actually done something for the boy instead of the Sandaime's 'it will take care of itself' plan. Hindsight showed that that was the worst possible plan the village could have taken. Leaving Sasuke to himself after the massacre only ended up pushing him away from Konoha.

"Sasuke." Kakashi called out. He had to try even if he thought it would be hopeless. "I am sure the Hokage can forgive you and Sakura if you come back now. If you continue attempting to leave though, I can not guarantee what will happen." Kakashi warned. He really hoped that the two would give up without a fight, but he seriously doubted it would happen. The four with them also gave him pause. Orochimaru would only have sent his best. It also didn't help that Orochimaru's people looked perfectly rested, while Shikamaru was probably almost out of chakra from the forced run here.

"Go tell your precious Hokage that we probably won't meet again. I am following my own path now, not Konoha's. Sakura has elected to join me. Any last words to our past, Sakura?" Sasuke asked to his teammate.

Sakura looked at the two people she had come to finally care about. She then looked to Sasuke who was her only love. She had told him she would do anything. She was going to follow that promise to the end.

"Kakashi, Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled out. _This actually feels pretty good. I never knew talking down to people that had authoritative privileges over you at one point in life was so much fun._ "I am going to become powerful as well. Next time we meet, if we do, Sasuke won't be the only powerful person. I will be a shinobi that will put fear into the hearts of others through my mere presence! Later, losers!"

Sasuke had to laugh at the looks on everyone's faces. He knew that he made the right call in bringing Sakura along. She was totally devoted to him, _and_ she was totally devoted to strength. She could become a real asset later when he hunted his brother. She also had an unique way with words.

All six suddenly left the statue they had been standing on and disappeared into Rice country. Shikamaru saw Naruto fall to his knees as the boy started sobbing. Then Kakashi came behind him and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Shikamaru could make out what appeared to be tears flowing from from his eyes as well.

A team was torn beyond all recognition. The last words between people who had become almost family were words of hate and scorn. Kakashi, who had problems in his past, and Naruto, who had problems throughout his life, were both left reeling as their bonds with Sakura and Sasuke were broken so easily by the duo. All the teamwork principles Kakashi had taught, abandoned. All the camaraderie between them, broken. Naruto and Kakashi's world, shattered.

They left the Valley of the End broken. What would come from this breaking would alter... everything. Shikamaru could only look on at his friend's pain because ultimately, they had arrived too late. Sasuke and Sakura were already gone from Konoha territory, and they had already torn Konoha from their hearts.

**A/N: Little angst this chapter, but don't worry. It will get better/more hopeful. This story's main premise is that Sakura leaves with Sasuke totally shattering Naruto's world. What he becomes afterwards is a much more realistic shinobi. Hope people like the chapter. **

**Don't worry for all those people wanting my other stories. I will get them out sometime... probably soon. I think most of the chapters in this story will be about 5 pages long. Not sure how many words that is because NeoOffice doesn't seem to display word-count. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 2: Moping and Leaving**

A week had passed since Sasuke and Sakura had left. A week of laying in bed and thinking of all the things they had done together. Reflecting on where it had all gone wrong. Naruto was glad of the food baskets that were left at his door by Shikamaru and Shoji, or he honestly might not have eaten at all. Naruto was trying to literally rethink his whole life because, obviously, he had done something wrong.

The one thing that Naruto had absolutely concluded was that he was too weak. He _had_ to get stronger. Naruto didn't really understand what he was going to do, but the second thing he concluded was that he was going to beat the shit out of Sasuke and Sakura. Whether he would attempt to bring them back to Konoha was very questionable. The thought of just killing them actually crossed his mind. If anyone knew that Naruto thought of killing someone, they would immediately laugh. They would say that Naruto doesn't even know what killing meant. They would be dead wrong.

The shattering of his world and the breaking of everything he thought he knew had really changed Naruto. The personal betrayal of Sakura to _follow_ Sasuke (Naruto's teeth started grinding at just the thought of it!) really put the betrayal of the village by both of them into perspective. The girl he loved, spat on him. It was as easy as that. She had not only spat on him, but she had spat on her parents, friends, and every soul that depended her inside of Konoha. Sasuke had done the same.

Ninja were supposed to protect their village and the citizens of said village. Ninja were supposed to protect their fellow ninja. Ninja were supposed to _Protect_ the lives of the innocent. Sakura and Sasuke ignored all of that to go to a freak who had been caught killing and experimenting on the people he was supposed to protect. After this realization on the third day in his room, the duo's betrayal hurt all the more for Naruto.

Naruto was trying to put the pieces back together on his life. After they had arrived back in Konoha a week ago, they had gone to report their findings to the Hokage. She expressed her sympathy to both remaining members of Team 7 and gave them a couple of weeks off. She had ordered Shikamaru to tell the other genin the news. Shikamaru had told him of how the others acted when he came to deliver a food basket on one of the days.

The Rookie 7 were devastated. Ino supposedly hadn't been left her room in days, much like Naruto himself. The others were despondent. They couldn't believe that people they considered their friends had left to join the same person who had just invaded Konoha! It was despicable! The Duo totally ignored all the people crying and hurting from dead mothers, dead fathers, dead siblings, and a dead Hokage. Naruto had already heard that Kiba had thrown himself into training. The dog-boy was already determined to make sure Sasuke fell by his hands.

Naruto had also heard from Shikamaru that the shinobi of Konoha were pissed. The boy that many had put their hopes in to erase the stain of having an entire clan wiped out by one person by killing that one person... had gone rogue. It left many people with bad tastes in their mouths. It only got worse when they found out that he had betrayed Konoha for Orochimaru.

Naruto found it somewhat funny that people were now calling the Uchiha, as a whole, a cursed clan. They said that nothing good came out of the clan and were glad it was gone from Konoha. Naruto figured that it was mostly bitterness talking, but it was still ironic to hear.

On the eighth day back in Konoha, Naruto finally left his apartment. The first place he went to was Ichirakus Ramen. He definitely needed his comfort food at a time like this. Walking the streets to the ramen stand, Naruto got the feeling that something was different within the populace of Konoha. He just couldn't put his finger on it though.

He banished it from his mind when he arrived at the ramen stand. Going in and sitting quietly wasn't his usual style, but he couldn't work up the enthusiasm to put on a big smile for the owner. Naruto quietly told Ayame to keep the bowls coming. He was in the mood for a binge.

After his seventh bowl of ramen, a small smile appeared on his face. After his tenth, the smile grew larger. After his thirteenth and last bowl, the smile was at its usual wattage as Naruto had shoved all thoughts of Sasuke and Sakura from his mind to enjoy the greatness of ramen. Naruto pondered thoughtfully that ramen could easily be used in torture. Deny people ramen, and they would flock to tell all they knew.

What Naruto himself didn't realize was just how much damage the betrayal of the Duo had left on his mind. He was thinking of using ramen in _torture_ for God's sake! The thought of killing the Duo was also very prevalent in his thoughts. Naruto passed all this up as just a common occurrence, but... was it really?

Leaving the ramen stand, Naruto ran into the one man he had wanted to find. Leaning against a pole that helped support the stand was Jiraiya. One of the members of the Sannin. Said to equal, if not surpass, Orochimaru. Naruto knew that if he ever wanted to take on Sasuke or Sakura, he would need the teachings of someone powerful. Jiraiya was that guy.

"Ero-Sennin." Naruto said softly when he stopped in front of the man. "Please. Please take me on as your apprentice. Teach me, please." Naruto asked with all the courtesy he could muster.

Jiraiya looked at the young boy who had been a loudmouth just a couple weeks ago. Now... now Jiraiya did not know what way Naruto would go. It seemed that the betrayal of his friends had done what war could not. It had changed him. Jiraiya wondered if Naruto would ever smile and laugh with all his heart again. Jiraiya, himself, knew what it felt like to be betrayed. It still hurt him to this day.

"Naruto. I know how you feel." Jiraiya started. "Orochimaru was once my best friend. My brother. We had worked together for years. When he betrayed Konoha, it was like my heart was shattered." Jiraiya stopped to collect his thoughts. He wanted Naruto to see just how close their situations were. "I tried to bring him back, you know. How I tried! Sadly, nothing worked." Sighing, Jiraiya looked at the Hokage Mountain. When he continued, his voice was even quieter.

"Orochimaru disappeared for a few years, and the next time I saw him, he tried to kill me. Me, his best friend, (snort) or so I thought at least. It took me a few more years after that to realize that Orochimaru had no friends anymore. The only thing that interested him was power and jutsu." Jiraiya turned to look at the boy he would call his apprentice.

"Naruto. The pain you feel at their betrayal is probably worse than mine when Orochimaru betrayed me. Unlike me, both of your teammates betrayed Konoha, but more importantly, they betrayed _you_. It hurts, doesn't it Naruto? The pain of shattered bonds. People who were once friend, once family! Gone by their own will. It hurts." Jiraiya put his hands on Naruto's shoulders. He looked him directly in the eye before continuing.

"The question is: what will you do with that pain? Will you lash out? Will you betray others? Or will you turn that pain into power. Will you work day in and day out to become stronger." His voice gaining strength and power, Jiraiya continued with passion. "Yes! You will not give in to that pain! You will not give in to that hurt! You will overcome it, and you will get stronger! And stronger and stronger! Nothing limits you, Naruto Uzumaki. Become the best. Take this pain as a lesson. Take these feelings and never let them come into your life again because your so damn powerful, who would betray you!"

Naruto looked at the man in front of him. Tears in his eyes, smile on his face, Naruto _looked_ at the man in front of him. _Ero-Sennin, you truly are an amazing person. One day, I want to be as powerful as you. I will take your advice, and I will use this experience to help me along. I will not stop, and I will not let up. I will become strong. No matter what. _ Naruto hugged his new sensei.

"Ero-Sennin. Thank-you." Naruto whispered while giving the man the biggest smile and hug he possibly could. Jiraiya just smiled. This was truly a feeling he had been missing most of his life. The feeling of being hugged by one who could be considered a son. Jiraiya knew he hadn't been hugged like that since Minato was 13 and had just seen his first taste of death. Jiraiya's words that day had quite possibly set Minato onto the path of greatness, just as he hoped his words this day would set Naruto onto the path of greatness.

Pulling Naruto back out to arm's length, Jiraiya gave the kid a once over. Nodding his head, he started laughing. "Ok, kid. Time for some training. I want you to go pack what you will need for an extended absence from Konoha. You and I are going on a training trip!" Jiraiya yelled proudly.

"We will be gone a couple of years. About 2 ½ to be exact. Over those years, I promise you that I will turn you into one of the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever seen. Just you wait, Brat!" Jiraiya said happily. "Meet me at the gate in an hour ready to go." Smiling happily, Jiraiya walked off to make sure all the small details were taken care of with Tsunade.

Naruto rushed back to his apartment with a smile on his face. Ero-Sennin was a true inspiration. With Ero-Sennin's aid, Naruto had gone from a moody boy with _way_ too many thoughts on his mind to a happy kid (still with some overreaching issues) that was ready to get some serious training.

Packing his bags in a hurray, Naruto focused mainly on underwear and socks. He knew that many of the supplies could be bought in different towns, but it would be better to wear his own underwear and socks at least for a while. Naruto had splurged slightly when he bought them after-all. The end result had been that they were extra comfortable.

Looking around at his apartment, it struck him as an incredibly lonely place to be at. He was actually glad to be leaving for a while. It was time for a change of scenery. The last thing he saw before closing the door was the photo of Team 7. Sakura's smiling face and Sasuke's brooding look both brought a frown to his face. They were gone, and Naruto believed that they were never coming back. It hurt, but he would move on. He would move on.

Locking the door, Naruto left his apartment. He just hoped it wouldn't be too dusty when he came back. He raced over the Ichirakus to make sure he bid them good-bye. He would miss their delicious ramen. People just didn't make ramen like Ichirakus. Something about the place seemed to just promote good taste.

"Oi! Ayame, Old Man! I came to say bye. I am going to be leaving for a couple of years, but when I come back, I will kick some serious ass!" Naruto told the two with a smile.

"Thats nice and all Naruto, but who will pay for Ayame's pretty clothes at home without you here?" Teuchi mock exclaimed. "I don't see how we will ever make it without your insatiable appetite for my fine cooking." Teuchi said with a laugh.

Naruto laughed along with the Old Man and Ayame. It felt good to laugh. He hadn't really done any laughing in over a week. He waved good-bye as he jogged away. Making his way towards the gates, Naruto again felt that something was different about the citizens. Usually they seemed to ignore him or whisper behind their hands, but today... today was different. Naruto just couldn't really figure out how.

Naruto found himself the first one at the gate. Ero-Sennin hadn't made it yet, but Naruto figured he wouldn't be much longer. He wasn't Kakashi. That reminded him. He hadn't seen Kakashi since the report to Baachan. He hoped his sensei didn't go into some kind of emo depression or anything. The Duo's betrayal was painful, but Naruto was going to use it to get stronger. Simple as that.

Once more affirming his resolution, Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya walking towards him with his scroll on his back. Looking at his teacher from a distance, Naruto noticed something he really hadn't before. Ero-Sennin was freaking tall! The man was a giant. Naruto really hoped he started growing. He would look like an absolute shrimp when they traveled together.

"Ready to go, Ero-Sennin? I want to start my training as soon as possible. I will become strong. I will protect the people of Konoha." Naruto said with passion.

Jiraiya had to admit that he liked this new Naruto slightly better though the old one wasn't bad either. Naruto now seemed to think a little more before blurting out anything and everything that entered his mind. He also seemed to be a bit, or maybe a lot, more serious. Jiraiya looked around at the citizens who had overheard Naruto and were smiling at the boy. He didn't think Naruto noticed, but the boy was going to be in for a surprise when they got back. The citizens were finally starting to acknowledge him.

"Let's go, Brat. I will even start your training as we walk. I bet your going to be more powerful in no time." Jiraiya's voice drifts back to the citizen's ears as the two leave Konoha. It wasn't for another couple of minutes until their backs (one giant-sized and one shrimp-sized) disappeared from view.

**With Kakashi**

Kakashi was in his house curled up in bed. He hadn't left since he got back. Cradling his knees in his hands, he was just rocking backwards and forwards. If anyone was around, they would hear the words 'I am a bad sensei. I am a bad sensei.' repeated over and over and over. Kakashi was having some slight problems.

It would take him the full two weeks Tsunade had given him off to break out of his funk. Once he finally broke out, he realized that being emo wouldn't really help the situation at all. Kakashi eventually decided, with the help of a nice, cheap psychiatrist, that becoming even stronger would be the best thing that he could do for himself at the time. Kakashi went into training with a vengeance. He was going to get his students back if it killed him.

**Back with Naruto and Jiraiya**

Naruto grinned happily as they were walking down the road. Ero-Sennin truly knew how to put him in a good mood. Naruto was determined. The time spent on this training trip would truly define him. He was going to create, adapt, and flat-out copy (with his own little flair, of course) any jutsu as he thought would truly help him. He was going to become so fast and good that he would leave Sasuke in the dust. Nothing would be able to stop him! He was Naruto Uzumaki, dammit! Future Hokage. And when he got his hands on Sasuke and Sakura, they better start praying because, in him, they would find no mercy.

**A/N: A totally different thought process between Kakashi and Naruto. One wants to save them while one wants to hurt them. Training trip starts next chapter. I am planning to show flashes of training at... hmm... 2 months or so intervals. Maybe longer. Enjoy. **

**Also will be calling Sasuke and Sakura the Duo. This is because it is much easier to type than to type out Sasuke and Sakura all the time. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 3: Training Begins**

Miles outside of Konoha two men were walking. Well, it would be better to say one man and one small child. Naruto Uzumaki had just started the first training exercise his sensei had given him. The exercise was one of the basic of basics with a slight twist. All Naruto had to do was keep 35 leaves stuck to his body while walking and then running. Easy, or so Naruto first thought.

Naruto was having a little trouble with the exercise. One thing was that every time he pushed chakra to his legs to keep up with Ero-Sennin when they started running, it immediately made every single leaf fall off of him. The other problem Naruto was having was that he was having trouble keeping all the leaves on his when he was just walking normally! It was quite vexing.

"Ero-Sennin." Naruto called out. "I actually understand how this will make me better because my chakra control could use a _tad_ bit of training, but isn't there some way I can speed this up." Naruto logically asked. Jiraiya almost did a double-take when he heard the boy not whining for new jutsus. _Yes, it will be a little difficult getting used to how Naruto is acting now._

"Well, Naruto. I am sure there is a way. How bout you think of one." Jiraiya magnanimously offered. He couldn't keep the grin off his face at the angry look Naruto threw him.

"Thanks a lot, Ero-Sennin. Always so helpful." Naruto griped. Naruto went back to attempting the exercise while they continued onto the town they planned to stay for the night. It took them another five and a half hours to reach it because of their slow pace. Consequently, it was dusk when they reached the cozy little town.

Surprisingly, Naruto had made good progress on the chakra exercise. He could at least hold all the leaves on him while walking. Many still fell off though when he started applying chakra to different parts of his body in large quantities.

Getting into their room for the night, Jiraiya decided to run over the training schedule he planned for Naruto to learn over the years with him. Pulling out his notebook (previously used for his porn ideas), Jiraiya went over all his notes before sitting down. He gestured for Naruto to sit across from him on the opposite bed.

"Naruto, I think now is a good time for us to go over what you will be learning in your time with me." At Naruto's serious nod, Jiraiya continued. "I am planning to shore up all your basic skills first thing. That means I am going to get your taijutsu up to stuff as well as make sure you can dispel genjutsu. I am going to pound into your head strategy and tactics. No more rushing straight into things. You will have a plan at all times, _and_ you will have a back-up plan at all times." Jiraiya told the boy in front of him.

"I am also going to teach you how to customize your **rasengan** to fit your needs. You might not have noticed, but people can dodge your **rasengan** because of its small size. With your chakra reserves, I believe that size can be doubled, hell maybe even tripled or more! Last, I am going to try to teach you how to control the Fox. When you get back to Konoha, you will easily make chunin or higher." Jiraiya's got a huge grin on his face. "So... what do you think of my awesome plan?" He asked excitedly.

Naruto thought of all his sensei had just told him. It sounded tempting to take the route Ero-Sennin had laid out for him, but Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be enough! He would need more power and knowledge than that to beat Sasuke. Hell, even Sakura would be getting a lot stronger. He couldn't just master the basics. He had to master the basics and then master the hard stuff too. He couldn't be weak anymore!

"It's not enough, Ero-Sennin." Naruto stated with conviction. "What you just told me will not be enough! Sasuke already is faster than me plus he has all that elemental stuff. Sakura already has much better chakra control than me. They already surpass me in the things that you want to teach me! I have to push my training farther and faster than both of them combined!" Naruto declared with his hands balled up at his sides.

Jiraiya was quite surprised that the training plan he had worked on for a week was so quickly shot down. He was also surprised at the look in Naruto's eyes. It was a look of strength. Jiraiya had seen glimpses of that look from Naruto before, but this was the first time he had seen it so strong. When Naruto had told Tsunade that he would learn **rasengan** in a week, this look had been in his eyes. When Naruto had faced down Kabuto, this look had been in his eyes. Naruto wasn't backing down.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Jiraiya pondered on what to do. Naruto wasn't budging on a different training plan. _I could let the boy use shadow clones for some of the basics. That might work... or destroy his brain. One or the other. Hmm... that would definitely solve the whole speed problem, but the question is should I do it? _

Finally reaching a decision, Jiraiya decided to do it. _I mean, what's the worst that could happen?_ Jiraiya went on to tell Naruto of the **Kage Bunshin'**s prime purpose.

"Naruto, the shadow clone jutsu is not really meant for combat though you have done a good job using it as such. The main purpose for shadow clones is for information gathering." Jiraiya explained.

Naruto listened to his sensei, fascinated. He never knew that he was using his main jutsu wrongly. Kinda hurt his feelings that no one had told him how to properly use it though. Tuning back into his sensei after his slight inner musings, Naruto was further fascinated at just how amazing the shadow clone jutsu was.

"You see Naruto." Jiraiya said. "Shadow clones were used for information gathering solely because whatever a shadow clone learns, the original learns as well. Using this feature, along with your rather large chakra reserves, I believe it is possible to train via shadow clones. This path should cut out any whining you wanted to do because 'your not training fast enough'." Jiraiya said with air quotations. Naruto smiled slightly at his sensei's antics.

"I do have to warn you though. This method of training is very dangerous. Worst case scenario: your brain melts from too much information." Jiraiya warned. "Thats why the number of clones you use will be limited until I deem you ready for more. You are never to use this method while I am not with you! You understand, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked in all seriousness. Who knew what would happen if the kid decided to send a thousand clones to a library with each one getting a different book. (Jiraiya shuddered slightly at the horror of that image.)

"I understand, Ero-Sennin." Naruto whispered softly. Naruto did understand. Ero-Sennin was trying to help him get stronger. If the method of doing so happened to be dangerous, then that was the price to pay for power. Naruto was determined to gain power no matter the cost.

"Ero-Sennin, I also think some of those elemental jutsus would be really good for me to learn. Those, along with a great increase in speed, should greatly help me." Naruto said. Then a... complicated look came over his face. "I am not sure," Naruto started. "What _exactly_ I am going to do to Sasuke and Sakura." Stopping and taking a deep breath, Naruto continued, "But I know it will not be good. They betrayed everyone. And _that_ I will never forgive." Naruto got off the bed and started pacing.

"I will become stronger. This I promise. Using that strength, I will protect Konoha. If someone betrays it, I will destroy them. This is my new nindo. A nindo of protection. A nindo to stop betrayal, and if I have to do that by making an example of previous betrayers, then I will do so. I _will_ do so. When I become Hokage, I will create a Konoha so powerful that no one will ever betray her." Naruto told his sensei with no wavering in his voice and no wavering in his heart. He was committed.

Jiraiya looked at the boy in front of him. The same boy who had been a loudmouth prankster only months ago. The same boy who had previously proclaimed his desire to be Hokage for acknowledgement. This boy was now seeing the true Ninja World. A world of gray with hardly any black and white. It was kinda sad, Jiraiya had to admit, but it also meant that there would be no break down later in life when Naruto realized the true state of affairs in the world.

Jiraiya got up and walked to Naruto who had stopped pacing. Reaching out his hand, Jiraiya patted the boy on the head and he said, "I will help." No more words were needed. Both sensei and pupil were in agreement.

**Next Day**

Jiraiya had initially planned to stick around and do a little... research. After last night's conversation though, he decided to really push on Naruto's training. This led to the two leaving early in the morning after a quick breakfast. Going at full speed, Jiraiya led Naruto to a little clearing that was tucked deep within Fire Country. A spot overrun by nature and quite a ways distance from any nearby town. It was a spot perfect for a few months of extreme training before going on their way again.

Dropping his bags, Jiraiya said, "Here we are, Naruto. This is the place we will be staying for the next couple of months. I plan to have all of your elemental training as well as most of the basics covered by the time we leave this clearing. I hope your prepared," Jiraiya said with a creepy chuckle. "Because your about to get 24/7 personal attention from a Sennin." Naruto got a slightly bad feeling at the chuckle. Ero-Sennin didn't sound... sane. _I am sure it will be fine. I mean what is the worst thing that could happen?_

Naruto's training began, and he couldn't be happier. From sunup to sundown, every hour except lunch was filled with training. They finished around 6:30 every day and had dinner afterwards. The creek was used to gather water as well as for bathing. Dinner and lunch were often animals that were caught either through traps or hunting. Jiraiya made sure that the first few days were spent specifically on survival. That meant Naruto had to set up their camp, catch their food, cook their food, create bedding, and ward off predators. Easy stuff for ninja, right? Of course, Jiraiya had to add the whole 'keep senbon attached through chakra, everywhere' part.

Naruto got the hang of it though. He was also glad that Ero-Sennin was showing him the finer points of cooking with only field ingredients. How this leaf did that and that leaf tasted like this were only a few parts of the intricacy of field cooking.

After the whole crash course on everything survival lasting three days, Jiraiya had Naruto summon ten clones on the fourth morning. Two clones were assigned each topic Jiraiya wanted to go over. One set of clones went over tactics in battle. Another set went over strategy in war times and peace. Another went over economics, while yet another went over chakra control. The last set of clones was assigned to learning basic knowledge on anything Jiraiya thought of at the time. Of course Jiraiya had his own clones teach Naruto's clones while Jiraiya _personally_ pounded physical training into Naruto.

Sit-ups, push-ups, squats, running, pull-ups, taijutsu, muscles, and speed were all done by the originals. All day long the sounds of physical exertion could be heard from the clearing. The only time they stopped was during infrequent water breaks. Jiraiya was determined to get Naruto to a basis of low chunin within a month. Knowledge, power, speed, and ability were all wanted within a month. Jiraiya and Naruto were both intent on this goal.

Jiraiya was very insistent on a better taijutsu for Naruto. He explained his reasoning on the sixth night. "Naruto, your shadow clones are very versatile. If you learn how to **Henge** them at the right times, you would automatically be very dangerous. If you set up a trap with **Henged** clones before the enemy even arrived, I don't see how you couldn't take down most people. That is why I am teaching you how to better incorporate your shadow clones into your taijutsu."

Jiraiya got an excited grin on his face before continuing. "I mean think of it. You could Henge into weapons or pieces of the landscape that could fool even the most observant ninja. Of course you would have to be on the lookout for sensor type ninja, but those are decently rare. Hell, with your reserves and intuition, I wouldn't put animals outside your reach. Learning how to Henge into multitude of animals would surely take enemy ninja by surprise." Jiraiya told an excited looking Naruto while chewing on a bird breast.

"I never thought of any of that, Ero-Sennin. Most of that sounds really cool thought!" Naruto told the man with an animated grin. Jiraiya was glad to see Naruto so excited. The times the boy truly got happy now-a-days weren't very often.

"I am your sensei after all. I do have to think of what to train you." Jiraiya replied with a smile. "What I just listed were mainly trap purposes. You also have to consider creating shadow clones to block attacks. Creating clones to help you dodge an attack, especially in the air. Creating clones behind the enemies. I have personally seen you create hundreds of clones scattered throughout an area, and some were fifty feet or more from you. By the time you leave me in a couple of years, I will have you creating one clone fifty feet away from you. I am sure that any of these applications will be very helpful in combat."

Jiraiya then pointed to Naruto who was seated across the fire from him. "Jutsu are nice. The more you have, usually the more versatile you are. _But_ there are some jutsu that the deeper you dig, the more you find. **Kage Bunshin** is one such jutsu. Now!" Jiraiya shouted while getting up. "Lets get to sleep." He said with a smile. Naruto sweat-dropped at the scene. _What was the point of yelling like that to just go to sleep?_

The month passed quickly for Naruto. All day everyday was spent training. He would make breakfast in the morning, eat, summon a clone to hunt for lunch and supper, summon ten other clones to go off with Jiraiya's clones, train with Jiraiya (this included anything from getting the crap beat out of him to just working on muscle strength), eat lunch, train more, eat dinner, sleep. It was fun.

The second month came along, and Jiraiya was proud to say that Naruto's physical abilities were all at least at low chunin level. His trap abilities though... Jiraiya just had to shake his head. Naruto seemed to take to traps like Uchiha did to fire jutsu. Easily._ I guess it is a hold-over from his pranking days._

Jiraiya decided to start what he wanted to teach Naruto for the second month. All that was left to do was have the kid discover his elemental affinity. _Good thing I have some chakra paper for seal work, or I could have been in a slight bit of trouble. _ Jiraiya went over to his bags which he had hardly touched since they arrived and searched through them until he got what he wanted. Pulling the chakra paper out, Jiraiya called Naruto over from finishing up his breakfast.

"Ok, Naruto. We are going to be doing things differently this month. I think you are around a low chunin in physical ability. Of course, with your high jutsu level, you could probably take on high level chunin. Using the Fox, you could probably fight off jounin. None of that is the point though." Naruto snorted at hearing that. It was really easy to get Ero-Sennin off subject. And that was with no girls in sight. Sad.

"What I was saying was that this month will be devoted solely to elemental affinity with some physical training as well." Jiraiya clarified. "To learn your affinity, I brought you some high quality chakra paper. Enjoy!" He said with a smile.

Naruto looked at his sensei for a second before shaking his head. The man could be _really_ absent-minded at times. _Does he actually think I have any clue what he is talking about? I can guess what elemental affinity is, but what are they specifically? Stupid Ero-Sennin. _

"Um, Ero-Sennin. You mind explaining to me just what the hell you are talking about?" Naruto asked in exasperation.

Jiraiya's eyes widened a little. He had completely forgotten that Naruto was still not very knowledgeable about a lot of things. Naruto's new demeanor really gave off the feeling of _some_ intelligence. Jiraiya was already forgetting that the Naruto from a month ago had absolutely _no_ intelligence. The Naruto in front of him was already turning into a competent shinobi. Jiraiya was quite proud.

"Whoops, sorry." Jiraiya said while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Elemental affinity is something that everyone has. It is either fire, water, earth, lightning, or wind. You will find it much easier to learn jutsu of your specific element. That is not to say that you can't learn other jutsu, just that it will be harder."

Jiraiya then started expounding on the elements and chakra paper. "You see each element has a weakness and a strength over a different element. The chakra paper comes into the picture when a shinobi wants to learn what their element is. All you have to do is push your chakra into the paper, and the paper will do one of five things: fire burns, water wets, earth turns to dirt, lightning crumples, and wind cuts. Here you go." Jiraiya handed Naruto the paper he had got out.

Naruto took the paper with slight trepidation. He really didn't want some weak element, or fire... he had seen enough fire from Sasuke. Placing his chakra into the paper, Naruto waited for the paper to react. Dun duh. Dun duh. Dun duh. His heartbeat seemed to fill his ears. Finally, the paper reacted! It was... wind. _Is wind good?_

Holding out the cut paper to Ero-Sennin, Naruto had to ask. "Is wind any good, Ero-Sennin?" He _really_ hoped the answer was yes. A bad element would undoubtably ruin his day.

Jiraiya smiled at his student. He really wanted to lead Naruto along, but he figured it would be too mean. (Sigh) _The things I do for kids. _ (Shakes his head). "The wind element is sometimes called the battle element, so I figure that it is perfect for you. Just remember that wind cuts. That is what it does. It is your responsibility to determine what it cuts and how it cuts. Remember that in life." Naruto looked confused before nodding. He would remember the words.

Jiraiya went over to one of the many trees surrounding the clearing they were in. He picked up a leaf before heading back to Naruto. Handing the leaf over, he could easily see Naruto's very confused look.

"Your first exercise on mastering your wind element is for you to cut this leaf using only your chakra. To do this, you are going to want to split your chakra into two. Then grind the two together until they are both extremely thin and sharp. Lastly, apply that chakra to the leaf. I will allow you to summon one hundred clones for this exercise. Let us hope you can get it in a week where we can move onto the second exercise. Begin." Jiraiya stated calmly before walking back over to the remains of breakfast. He decided to clean up for once.

Naruto looked at his sensei before shrugging and summoning his clones. If he had a week to cut a leaf, then he would do it in four days. _I will show everyone my power. I will move faster and farther than any other who has come before me. I will master wind manipulation to a degree that others can only dream of. I will show Ero-Sennin that I will surpass his expectations at every turn. Ero-Sennin believes in me. I will not let him down! _Naruto began his wind training. Before the month was out, Naruto mastered both exercise, cutting a leaf and cutting a waterfall, and before he even knew it, two months had passed since the two had left Konoha.

A/N: Decided to skip the elemental training because, frankly, it was shown during the manga. No point in writing fanfiction that is already manga material unless it is absolutely needed. Next chapter will be Jiraiya and Naruto moving onto a different place as well as a new jutsu?


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 4: Extra Wind Training and then off to the Desert**

They were finally leaving the little forest clearing they had stayed in for two months. It kinda annoyed Naruto because he felt like his training was just getting good. He would trust in Ero-Sennin though, and hope that the next place they stopped would be even better!

"Ok, Brat. Everything is packed up, and all traces of our presence have been erased. Let's go!" Jiraiya comically yelled while swinging his arm forward. So saying, he took off at a full run. Naruto was caught completely by surprise considering his sensei never liked to run. Naruto quickly took off in pursuit. Catching up, Naruto adjusted his pace to match Ero-Sennin's speed.

The two traveled comfortably together as the miles passed under them. They soon ran out of trees and had to race across the ground. Three hours after noon was when they finally reached their destination. The town they arrived at was... beautiful, to say the least. Naruto had honestly never seen anything like it.

"Wow!" Naruto breathed in excitement. "Ero-Sennin. This place is amazing! It is so beautiful." Naruto whispered while looking around in awe. The town truly was a pretty sight. Built on a cliff overlooking a lake, the city had many canals that formed into waterfalls as they fell into the lake. Most of the people seemed to travel by boat, and the sparkle of the lake and waterfalls could be seen clearly from the entrance. It truly was a beautiful sight.

The two walked into the town of Akuava, hailed by many as the most beautiful town in Fire Country. They walked many myriad streets along with a few forays over the water until they reached a respectable looking inn. Walking in, Naruto could immediately see why Ero-Sennin thought of this place. Most of the servers were absolutely beautiful. _Trust Ero-Sennin to find the place with the most beautiful girls_, Naruto thought while shaking his head ruefully.

Once they reached their room, Naruto had to ask why they were here (besides the pretty girls of course). "Ero-Sennin, what are we doing here?" Naruto asked curiously. "I mean, I don't exactly see this as the place to do a lot of training..."

Jiraiya smirked. He just knew that his next training plan would totally blow the kids mind. Jiraiya had devised this plan once he learned how quickly Naruto 'mastered' his wind affinity. There happened to be a total of 14 waterfalls falling down into the lake below. Jiraiya's plan was to have Naruto, without any clones, cut all 14 at the same time.

The sheer quantity of chakra necessary for such a feat would kill almost any person who tried. For people like Naruto and Jiraiya however, it was possible. The only thing Jiraiya could foresee making this exercise not work would be the huge distance between all the waterfalls, and the fact that Naruto could only be in close proximity to one. This whole exercise was designed to force Naruto to create wind chakra so sharp and powerful that it would basically be an A-rank jutsu in its own right. If Naruto used any shape transformation on such powerful wind chakra, (Jiraiya shook his head chuckling) then that jutsus power would most likely be a high A-rank or low S-rank.

"We're here because I want to be." Jiraiya told his apprentice with a smile. At seeing Naruto's slight pouting face, he had to laugh. "Ha ha ha! Kid you have to have some faith in me. What, did you think I came here only because of the girls?" Jiraiya asked rhetorically. At seeing Naruto's nod, Jiraiya developed a slight sweat-drop.

"Well your wrong, Brat. The exercise I am going to have you do is basically waterfall cutting... just on a gigantic scale." Jiraiya started smiling evilly while rubbing his hands. "You, my fine apprentice, are going to be on the lake below. Your job: cut every waterfall. At the same time. Without clones." Jiraiya started cackling when he saw the look of horror on Naruto's face.

Naruto was now sure. Ero-Sennin was bat-shit crazy! There was no way that he could do that! Naruto had seen how large and separated those waterfalls were. It would be impossible for him to cut them all at once. The chakra requirements alone might not even be possible for him!

Naruto starting thinking of any way he could convince Ero-Sennin to see reason. Then he stopped. He closed his eyes before mentally berating himself. _What the hell am I thinking! This is the perfect opportunity! This can easily be my first step in showing Ero-Sennin just how powerful I will become in wind. This will be my first step to truly becoming stronger! I will master this exercise in no time!_

Naruto opened his eyes to give his sensei his answer. Jiraiya was moderately surprised, though he really shouldn't have been, at the resolve he saw in Naruto's eyes. Naruto was ready to start trying to cut all those waterfalls. _ I guess I should give it to the kid. I mean, hell, I wasn't really expecting him to be on board with this. I mean, he would have good reason to not do it; I was drunk when I thought of this training_. Jiraiya thought with an inner embarrassed chuckle.

"I am ready, Ero-Sennin! Time to take my wind affinity to the next level!" Naruto shouted out. "There is still some daylight left, so let's get our butts down there and start training." Naruto then ran out of the hotel heading towards the edge of the city. Jiraiya sighed. He had forgotten just how time-consuming it was to have an apprentice. Jiraiya slowly followed after his student with his head hanging. He had so been looking forward to making nice with all the ladies too.

Naruto arrived at the edge of the city with Ero-Sennin no where in sight. Looking down at his task, Naruto gulped. _ Thats one damn big waterfall, and I have to cut all 14 at the same time? _(Naruto whistled) _No time like the present I guess. _ So thinking, Naruto jumped down to the water below. Cushioning his impact with chakra, he immediately sent more chakra to his feet to stay atop the water.

"I guess I should summon one clone per waterfall and try to work my way down from there." Naruto mused out loud. Putting action to his words, Naruto summoned 13 clones, while he did the last one by himself. Once all the clones were in position, Naruto signaled the start of the exercise.

It took only a few minutes for each clone to get warmed up and split their waterfall, but none of them could figure out how to extend their reach to include the others. Naruto sighed at seeing the result. He was just glad he had already learned how to split waterfalls, or he really would have had a hernia when Ero-Sennin had told him about this training exercise.

Naruto quickly dismissed the clones when he could tell that they weren't getting anywhere on solving the problem. Taking in their experience, Naruto sat down to meditate on a way to split all waterfalls at the same time. Diminishing the number of clones until only the original remained didn't seem to be the way to go. That would only leave for Naruto himself to keep increasing the chakra and quality of his wind cutting until all waterfalls were cut. (Naruto bit his tongue, perturbed.) To take that path would require a long time. (Shaking his head ruefully.) _Well thats why it is called a training trip, I guess._

Naruto began again. This time he was by himself in front of the waterfall that was the closest to another. Summoning his chakra to his hands, Naruto began splitting it apart and then grinding it together. Satisfied that his chakra was suitably turned into wind chakra, he placed his hands before the waterfall. Naruto pushed the gathered chakra in his hands towards the waterfall. It cut through it.

Keeping the chakra flowing, Naruto tried to extend the reach by gathering more chakra and turning that into wind chakra as well. Pushing past his limits, Naruto could see that his idea worked... sorta. He could see that the other waterfall was cut, but barely any of it was being cut.

Jiraiya looked down on his student from the top of the cliff. He had to hand it to the boy; Naruto was seriously trying to cut 14 waterfalls at once. Naruto was also finding out the difficulty of extending chakra away from the body at great distances. It didn't help that this whole exercise was just a nature manipulation with no hand-signs or any other aid to help make the chakra extend farther. Everything was totally dependent on Naruto's skill with wind chakra. Jiraiya just hoped the kid could do it. Hell, Jiraiya knew that he sure couldn't do this exercise!

Jiraiya watched until the sun went down. He was going to call it a day when he noticed that Naruto was basically asleep on his feet. Another (Tapping his head while pondering the right word)... advantage of this training was the huge chakra cost. Naruto's reserves would probably be even larger as he continued trying to get this exercise down. Naruto's control of his chakra would also be much higher after all this. It was like two birds with one stone._ I am such a genius_, Jiraiya congratulated himself.

Naruto woke up the next morning in bed at the inn they were staying at. He had no remembrance of coming back here, so he figured that Ero-Sennin must have brought him back after he collapsed from his training. Shrugging it off, Naruto ran down to get some breakfast. He couldn't wait to get back to training.

Arriving in the dining room, Naruto saw that his sensei was already pigging out on the food. After observing basic manners, Naruto too began eating. Finishing as quickly as possible, Naruto was about to run out the door before Ero-Sennin called him back.

"Brat! Make sure to leave ten clones here. We can't have you slacking off in other areas while you practice your wind affinity can we?" Jiraiya asked with much enthusiasm. Naruto's eyes widened for a second until he started smiling as well. Yes, he was going to gain much skill in wind chakra, but he was also going to be getting stronger in other areas at the same time. He really loved shadow clones.

**Two Months One Week Later**

"Hah hah hah!" Naruto panted. He had to smile. He had finally done it. After a full day of trying, he had finally done it! Cutting 14 waterfalls at the same time by himself. Complete! Breathing in and out deeply to catch his breath, Naruto looked to his side to see Ero-Sennin walking up to him. He was clapping.

"Well done, Brat!" Jiraiya called out. "You finally did it. I have to admit to being slightly impressed." Jiraiya praised.

Naruto smiled up at his sensei. Ero-Sennin didn't give out praise lightly. The man was a wonder to be around, but praise was always well deserved with him. Thats why it was always a joy to be Ero-Sennin's student.

"Thanks, Ero-Sennin. Now we can move on to my next training right?" Naruto asked curiously. He had to admit to being glad that he could cut something like 14 waterfalls at the same time, but he wasn't exactly sure how that would help him when it came time for a real fight.

"Ah, but first!" Jiraiya yelled in excitement. "You have to realize what this training was for! I want you to come up with your on jutsu using the wind manipulation you just learned. You come up with the idea; I will teach you the necessary shape manipulation if it is needed. Though I should also say that the **rasengan** is the ultimate shape manipulation. It is also an incomplete jutsu. If you added your wind chakra to the **rasengan**..." Jiraiya tempted.

Naruto snorted at his sensei's obvious hinting. What Ero-Sennin was mentioning wasn't a bad idea. It just wasn't... what his recent training needed. Naruto knew that he had been training his wind affinity for long distances. The **rasengan** wasn't a long distance shape manipulation. He needed something new, something different. Something... powerful.

_Ah, that could work_, Naruto thought excitedly as the perfect idea came to mind. _But it would be quite difficult, and I would definitely need some harsh shape manipulation training._ Naruto thought with a sour look on his face. _I could always use shadow clones for this one though. _ Naruto thought with a brightening outlook. That look instantly went back to dark when he realized just how many shadow clones he would need. (Naruto groaned) _ I can already feel all the mental pain from burst clones._

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto shouted out. "I have just the idea. Though I am going to need your help on learning how to do the shape manipulation right." At seeing Ero-Sennin's nod, Naruto immediately headed back to town to collect their things. They would need a different environment to work on this jutsu. Jiraiya followed along with a perplexed look on his face. _When did I become the follower. I am supposed to be the sensei here! _ Jiraiya thought with a pout.

Once they got out of town and were on the road, Jiraiya just had to know where Naruto thought he was going. For all he knew, the kid was going to walk around randomly until he spotted a nice place!

"YO, Brat! Where the hell do you think you are going?" Jiraiya squawked as he saw Naruto start speeding up. Jiraiya really wasn't in the mood for running.

Naruto looked back to see Ero-Sennin running to catch up while scratching his butt. (Naruto started choking with laughter.) It was an amusing sight to be sure. Finally gaining control of his laughing, Naruto saw that Ero-Sennin had caught up with him. Naruto decided to explain some of his thought process.

"Well, for my idea to work, I am going to need a lot of room. It would also be best if there are no... obstructions. My idea is a long range kind of thing. Since I am using wind chakra, anything in my way will be cut." Naruto explained.

Jiraiya looked at the boy in front of him with an eyebrow raised. Naruto was awfully cocky to think that whatever was in his way would be cut. Then again, if what Naruto had told him about his final solution to cutting all those waterfalls was true, then Jiraiya could possibly see Naruto cutting most anything from his path.

Naruto had ultimately decided that he literally _couldn't_ cut all 14 waterfalls at once with his current level of wind molding. That was why Naruto decided to go back to the basics of molding wind chakra. Naruto theorized that if he could make the quality of wind chakra better, it would be easier to cut everything. It turned out that the boy was right.

Naruto had worked long weeks on getting his chakra to grind together to a finer and finer line until finally he unleashed his result. It was quite a disturbing scene as Naruto was using around 800 clones, all of which were sitting down and focusing only on wind manipulation. Jiraiya would have sworn that he would never, ever see Naruto Uzumaki still like that for such a long time. To see 800 of him doing it... scary.

"Sounds like the desert would be a good place for you, Brat. What say we head to Suna. If my recent informants are right, then you will be getting quite the surprise when he arrive there." Jiraiya said with a secretive grin.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared down his sensei. Ero-Sennin wasn't talking though, so he eventually gave up trying to stare him down. It always annoyed him when Ero-Sennin decided to get all 'hush-hush'. Sighing, Naruto continued walking. The desert of Suna sounded just as good as any other place. At least there, he would be able to visit Gaara. Master and pupil sauntered off to the desert.

**Six Days Later**

Naruto had to concede: his idea to go to the desert, Bad Idea! It was freaking HOT in the desert! Not only that, Naruto was definitely not wearing the right kinda clothes to be traveling in over 100˚ heat. That was why he had already gotten rid of the upper part of his orange jumpsuit. The annoying thing was that Ero-Sennin had thought Naruto was keeping up with it, while Naruto thought Ero-Sennin was keeping up with it; the end result was that there was no more top to the orange jumpsuit. Naruto was stuck in his orange pants and a black shirt.

"Lets not forget," Naruto grumbled to himself, "Ero-Sennin just _had_ to completely bypass Suna and take us deep into the desert. We're in the middle of freaking nowhere, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto suddenly shouted. "I though we would at least go to Sunagakure and visit Gaara."

Jiraiya looked back at his suffering pupil. He smiled. The Brat wanted to go to the desert, well he damn well was going to give him the desert. Before Jiraiya even thought about taking him back to civilization, Naruto was going to have a whole new level of physical fitness.

"Tut, tut, Naruto. You did want to come to the desert to work on your jutsu, remember?" Jiraiya asked sweetly.

Naruto was going to kill him. He could already see Ba-chan's reaction. _'Where is that pervert?' she would say. I would reply, 'I killed him.' She would look shocked and then ask, 'Why?' 'He annoyed me,' would be my perfectly logical. She would go into deep thought for a second, and then look up and say, 'Perfectly understandable.'_ Yes, Naruto could see it all now. He started laughing maniacally.

Jiraiya became slightly scared from the evil laughing Naruto was doing. The boy really needed to tone down the whole bad guy vibe he had going. _Oh well, I can always beat it out of him out here. _Jiraiya developed his own evil laugh.

"Ok, Naruto. We are here!" Jiraiya exclaimed while thrusting his arms outward. Naruto looked and looked, but all he saw was sand. He did _not_ like where this was going.

"For the next couple of months, we are going to be camping right here. While your clones are doing whatever shape manipulation you want to learn, you and I will be doing a totally insane work out schedule." Jiraiya said with a smile. Naruto _really_ did not like where this was going.

"Of course, in this heat, it would be totally understandable that any exercise you do will tire you out more than you are used to. I promise you right here and now: any time you drop from exhaustion, I will immediately double whatever we are doing at the time." Jiraiya warned. Hey, he was a nice guy. He at least gave the boy warning.

Naruto looked at his sensei. He looked at him some more. A little more. Then he looked out at their new training area. Then back to his sensei, who was _still_ smiling. He leaked a few tears before bowing his head in imagined pain. Naruto just knew that this wasn't going to turn out good.

**A/N: I hope people noticed that I purposely kept Naruto's new jutsu hidden. I will reveal it in a chapter or two, but for now, I want it to be a surprise. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 5: Training or Glorified Torture?**

Two months in. Two month! Two _glorious_ months of physical training in a freaking desert! Naruto, while admitting to the effectiveness of the training, was still ready to get the hell out of there. So what if he could use his chakra to help keep him cooler. So what if he could use chakra to walk on sand instead of sinking. So what? It was freaking HOT!

Jiraiya watched his student with an indulgent smile. The brat was in a mood again. One thing that annoyed Jiraiya about Naruto's new attitude was that every now and then Naruto would just start getting all uppity. Naruto used to never get uppity! Now someone could almost set their watch by it.

The only good thing was that it was quite easy to break him out of his mood. All one genius sensei had to do was offer a little extra training. Didn't matter if Naruto was acting out because of the training, Naruto would always snap out of his moods at the opportunity of training. Controversial? Yes. Did Jiraiya care? No.

Jiraiya himself was getting tired of the desert, but he figured it would a couple more months until they left. Naruto still wasn't up to his standards with his taijutsu and physical conditioning. Though, from what Naruto had been telling him, his jutsu was almost complete. After Jiraiya had given him the basics in chakra manipulation, Naruto had started developing his new jutsu in private. Of course, Jiraiya could have easily snuck over and saw it, but he figured that allowing Naruto this freedom would do the boy good. It would also give him a surprise whenever Naruto completed it. Jiraiya liked surprises. Especially big-breasted ones.

Naruto huffed as he finally finished the last semi-impossible task Ero-Sennin had assigned him that day. This time all he had to do was dig a hole using only his hands... in sand... without chakra. Suffice it to say that Naruto almost rebelled before common sense took over. Ero-Sennin had to have some purpose in making him do all this in 100˚ heat. Naruto wasn't yet ready to believe that Ero-Sennin was just making up stupid exercises as he went along. Yet.

Naruto had to concede that there were some good things that came along with all this 'bad' training. One good thing was the rock hard six-pack Naruto was now sporting. Another good thing was that Naruto's muscles clearly now had a lot of definition to them. Nothing too bulky, but a amazing mixture of finesse with strength. Ero-Sennin had worked hard to make sure Naruto's muscles became just right.

Naruto also had to concede that the training had given him a huge addition to his stamina. Being able to run all day in sweltering heats had to be a good thing. It _was_ a good thing it didn't take Naruto long to get that down because Ero-Sennin had kept his promise of doubling whatever he was doing if he failed. Instead of 1500 push-ups, Naruto had ended up doing 6000. He had failed trying the 3000 as well.

Along with all the physical strengthening, Naruto's chakra control had also risen. Ero-Sennin had made sure to teach Naruto several inner chakra flows that aided in keeping cool in hot weather. Naruto had made those exercises prime points of interest. Of course, Ero-Sennin had waited a whole month before even mentioning the possibility of keeping cool with chakra. Naruto had blessed the man out that night.

Overall, Naruto definitely saw a rate of improvement, and it made him giddy. He could _tell_ that he was getting stronger. He could feel it! His new jutsu was almost ready as well. Naruto figured a couple more days, and he would have that jutsu ready for its first real test. Oh, was Ero-Sennin going to be surprised when he found himself as a nice, happy test subject.

Heading back to camp for the day, Naruto couldn't help but remember the very first 'impossible' exercise Ero-Sennin had given him to increase his strength.

**Flashback:**

"You want me to WHAT?" Naruto shouted in disbelief. The old pervert had finally got insane. Did the man not realize that it was HOT outside! And they were always outside, so how could he _not_ realize it? Naruto just had to walk up to his sensei. Reaching up, Naruto peered in both eyes, checked his pulse, and tried to see if he was running a fever. Maybe some kind of disease would explain Ero-Sennin's sudden madness. Naruto could only hope.

Jiraiya had been getting more and more ticked at every action his student had taken. To see if he was sick? _Did the Brat not want to get stronger, and isn't my training the best in the world?_ Were two questions going through Jiraiya's mind. Finally getting enough of the charade, Jiraiya nailed Naruto on the head. Falling down, Naruto crashed into the sand.

"What the hell was that for, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto indignantly yelled._ First the pervert goes insane, and now he is hitting me. What next? _Naruto thought in exasperation.

The thing that caused the whole episode was quite simple in explanation. The hard part came in actually carrying it out. Their first real day out in the desert was the same day that Jiraiya started Naruto's physical training while their clones were off doing... clone stuff. Jiraiya had unsealed a strange-looking weight from his supplies. Taking the weight, Jiraiya had tied a rope to it and put it on the sand. Naruto's job, pull the rope.

Naruto had, wisely, decided to see how heavy the weight was. Trying to pick it up, Naruto found a slight problem. He couldn't budge the thing! Try all he might, Naruto couldn't move it at all using his arm strength. After finally giving up after his 16th attempt, Naruto had looked over to see Ero-Sennin laughing at his efforts. That wasn't very nice of him.

"Come on, Brat. The thing doesn't weight that much. All you have to do is drag it through the sand in a lap formation. I already drew out the lap size for you. Aren't I a nice sensei?" Jiraiya asked quite sarcastically. Naruto looked to see how big a lap he would have to run, and then he did a double-take. His eyes widened for good measure. What he was seeing wasn't a lap, it was a freaking marathon disguised as a lap!

"Ero-Sennin! I can barely move that thing! What do you mean that it doesn't weigh much! And how many of these 'laps' do you want me to do, anyway?" Naruto yelled in annoyance.

Jiraiya smiled. "Oh, only a hundred laps... for now." Then with a nonchalant air, he said, "And that weight is only two thousand pounds. I have much heavier weights waiting for you once you get this exercise down."

Naruto... fainted. He awoke after only a few seconds, but the sheer audacity of Ero-Sennin's training plan shocked him too much. Naruto now knew that he was going to die out here. Ero-Sennin had gone crazy and was trying to kill him. Thats the only thing that made sense.

"Oh, and no chakra what-so-ever. This is all you kid. Now get to running!" Jiraiya yelled out with a light slap to Naruto's back. Naruto turned around to look at his sensei. Jiraiya could easily see the desire to kill him in those blue eyes. He chuckled.

"Die, Ero-Sennin. Just die." Naruto ground out. "Wants me to carry thousands of pounds, sliding through sand!, without chakra." Naruto grumbled. He slowly made his way to the weight to began his torture.

**End Flashback**

The next day dawned hot just as pretty much every day in the desert had dawned. Naruto got up, fixed breakfast (Ero-Sennin was too lazy), and then began training. Naruto had decided that a weeks time would be enough time to fully develop his new jutsu. He couldn't wait to show it off to Ero-Sennin.

Going through the warm-ups Ero-Sennin had devised, Naruto quickly picked up pace. An hour each morning had been set aside for warm-ups. They were specifically designed to make sure every single muscle was in use and ready for the strenuous use Ero-Sennin had waiting for them.

Finishing with vigor, Naruto moved onto what came next in his daily routine, sparring. Summoning one hundred clones, Naruto signaled for them to attack. This spar was another idea of Ero-Sennin's. The clones simulated the same conditions of being attacked by multiple enemies. Them being shadow clones, though, allowed Naruto to beat them using only one hit. The numbers more than made up for this, and Naruto always got a good work-out fighting against himself.

Naruto finished with the clones and went back to the camp. Sweat was running down his face as he grabbed a towel from among the bags. Looking over, he could see Ero-Sennin getting ready for todays training. Naruto summoned the, now 16, clones to work with Ero-Sennin's clones. If he wasn't mistaken, today's schedule was history, jutsu theory, chakra control, genjutsu recognition, tactics, stealth, and the other four were trying to learn how to create a storage scroll.

"Ero-Sennin, what torture do you have planned today?" Naruto called out.

Jiraiya walked over to his student when he saw that the boy was through with his morning exercises. Naruto sure had come a long way from the little pipsqueak he had used to be. Now the boy was gaining confidence and muscles. Naruto was also starting to finally grow. Jiraiya had to give himself props though because Naruto's mind was finally beginning to develop. The kid couldn't have used his mind if it killed him 6 months ago. Now the boy was already thinking steps ahead of his opponent. Stuff like that could make a teacher _so_ proud. (Jiraiya wiped off a fake tear.)

"I was thinking of all out taijutsu sparring today. I still see some areas in your taijutsu that need work. If you leave holes in your taijutsu like you have then any competent chunin will eat you alive. Your just lucky you have never gone up against a competent chunin." Jiraiya said.

"But I beat Neji _Hyuga_!" Naruto indignantly commented. "Everyone always says that Hyugas are amazing at taijutsu. If all that is true then I shouldn't have holes in my taijutsu, especially after all the training you and I have been doing." Naruto claimed.

Jiraiya nodded right along with his student's reasoning before saying, "True, true. All you say is definitely true. But you have to consider that you won mainly through luck and the Kyuubi. He kinda dominated you when it came to the actual taijutsu part of your fight. Though I will admit that you have gotten much better in taijutsu. You just need a little tweaking to become even better." Jiraiya then walked off while waving for Naruto to follow.

Naruto followed Ero-Sennin until they reached the area they usually used for sparring. It was only a short distance from camp because whenever Naruto finished training, he automatically had to crawl his way back to camp. It wouldn't do for him to crawl a long way, after all. Ero-Sennin was kind enough to not beat him until he couldn't crawl at all though. Naruto had to take his positives wherever he could when it came to training with Ero-Sennin.

Naruto started out the fight by summoning four clones. The clones quickly set off against Ero-Sennin while Naruto stayed in the back. Each of the clones were quickly destroyed, but not before Naruto was able to tell what level his sensei was using on this fight.

Ero-Sennin had three levels whenever they trained together. One was easy mode. This was the level usually reserved for learning new things about taijutsu. The second level was 'Oh Shit' level. This level usually left Naruto crawling back to camp at night. The third level was the 'Glorious Torture' level. When Ero-Sennin fought him at that level, Naruto had almost died. It was good that Ero-Sennin had only fought him at that level once. Of course, Ero-Sennin just happened to be using that level in this fight!

Giving up on his deliberations (and his slight panic), Naruto rushed in while summoning more clones for quick substitutions. Jumping high in the air, Naruto started falling above Ero-Sennin. Summoning two clones, one near him while the other was slightly to the side of him, Naruto had the clone besides him throw him off his intended trajectory. The other clone grabbed Naruto from the air to throw him at Ero-Sennin at high speed.

"Good, Brat, good!" Jiraiya yelled out excitedly. "Do this kind of thinking in all your fights, and you will have an advantage. Just make sure to think about every move you make!" Jiraiya quickly side-stepped the falling Naruto before punching the boy straight in the stomach. Hard.

Spitting out blood after rolling through the sand, Naruto tried to create a new tactic. _Damn, I know there is no way I can even get close at my current level. Should I try out my new jutsu...? No, its still not ready yet, and this is supposed to be taijutsu only (with clones). What should I do?_ Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought as he looked at his sensei.

Running in a circle around Ero-Sennin, Naruto analyzed his sensei from every angle. Before he could even think of a plan, Ero-Sennin disappeared from his vision. Naruto realized that his sensei was about to attack him, so he ducked quickly praying that his guess right. He only realized he was wrong when he found himself on the ground from another punch to his stomach.

Dry-heaving, Naruto tried to stand up as it felt like his insides were collapsing. "Hemh blurgh!" Naruto ground out before bending over and throwing up. The sound that throw-up made on the desert sand was not very appealing. Naruto managed to raise himself to one knee as he spat to clear the taste from his mouth. Ero-Sennin wasn't holding much back!

"You need to think faster, Naruto. An enemy isn't going to give you all day to think of a plan." Jiraiya cautioned. The boy could be really good on his feet if he would just learn how to balance battle and thinking. From what Jiraiya had observed, Naruto could be really good in a fight if he was pushed to his limit. Once he tried to use his brain though, Naruto over-analyzed everything and ended up making a blunder.

Moving as fast as he could, Naruto made a bee-line straight at his sensei. _ I just need to get close enough,_ Naruto thought frantically. _ My shadow clones limit is seven feet from me. I know that distance is growing, but seven feet is the farthest I can do right now. _ Naruto was betting everything on summoning a shadow clone behind Ero-Sennin while the original fought him head on.

Jiraiya looked on as his student rushed him in what seemed to be a suicide charge. Jiraiya knew that the boy had a plan, but he wasn't sure just what Naruto had planned. _Oh well, I will just beat him before he can enact his plan_. Jiraiya thought with a smirk. Jiraiya rushed his student.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw his sensei heading towards him. Gulping, Naruto quickly made the seal and calling out his shadow clone. Naruto knew that he had already given his plan away, but he was still going to try it.

The two met in a fierce taijutsu battle. Jiraiya quickly gained the upper hand, but Naruto was managing to hold on fairly well. Jiraiya was only mildly surprised, though, when a shadow clone attacked from behind him. _ Yes, Naruto definitely has a hole in his taijutsu,_ Jiraiya thought sourly. Dispelling the clone with a kick backwards, Jiraiya caught the punch heading towards his face.

Naruto, not one to give up, went for a leg sweep after he saw his plan collapse and his fist caught. Ero-Sennin jumped over the sweep, and then used the caught fist to flip Naruto over. Naruto landed on his back as an explosion of air left his lungs. Panting, he tried to get back up, but Ero-Sennin hadn't let go of him. Naruto knew that was a bad sign.

Jiraiya smiled down at his apprentice. The boy was coming along well. Naruto's taijutsu was around a high chunin level. What Naruto really excelled in though was his physical strength. Of course, it could not compare to Tsunade's chakra enhanced strength, but what could? Jiraiya had known from the very beginning that one of Naruto's future advantages would be his physical strength. Ever since the boy was able to run laps with a two thousand pound weight tied to him on only the third day, Jiraiya had known of Naruto's abnormal strength. No normal person should have been able to do that.

Naruto was lucky. The Kyuubi sealed inside of him, healed him. Building muscles was basically breaking down the tissues within muscles, and, when they healed, the muscles would be stronger. The Kyuubi inside of Naruto automatically healed those torn tissues much faster than nature intended for those kinds of things to heal. This resulted in Naruto's physical strength increasing at a great pace. Jiraiya hadn't exactly mentioned this information to Naruto though. _Its always better to keep kids in the dark. That way they don't become too arrogant. _ Jiraiya thought happily.

Jiraiya delivered a chakra enhanced kick to his student''s midsection. Naruto needed to learn how to deal with pain after all. _Too bad, looks like I kicked him a little too hard. The poor boy has passed out with blood dripping down his chin. How sad._ Jiraiya thought mockingly.

After a couple minutes of unconsciousness, Jiraiya started kicking Naruto awake. They weren't very hard kicks, but most people usually don't kick kids who have just passed out awake. Thus, Naruto woke in even more pain than when he passed out.

"Gah! Ero-Sennin, do you have to be so merciless?" Naruto asked with pain lacing his voice. Naruto had to speak in a whisper because of the pain racking his body. He knew that if he didn't have the Kyuubi then he would most likely be bedridden for weeks. The Fox had its uses every now and then.

"So, what is my hole, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked impatiently. He wanted to have that hole fixed up as soon as he could. It really annoyed him that he could be beaten so easily, even if he was fighting against a Sennin.

"You didn't recognize it?" Jiraiya asked surprised. He was sure the kid would recognize it. He had made the mistake right at the very end too. "Oh, well, you need to learn how to use the** Kage Bunshin** without the hand-seal. I could easily tell your plan at your last attack because I could see your hand-sign. Same as when you took to the air. Your hand-sign allowed me to pretty much know exactly what you were planning to do. Learn how to do the** Kage Bunshin **without hand-seals, and your taijutsu will be that much harder to beat." Jiraiya lectured.

Turning back to camp, Jiraiya threw over his shoulder, "Your summoning a clone away from you... that was pretty good for a brat like you. That was probably the best thing you did the entire match." Jiraiya could almost _feel_ Naruto's happiness at getting a little praise. He just had to burst Naruto's bubble. "Though you forgot about your clones you summoned at the beginning of the match for substitution." Naruto's face fell as he realized he could have avoided a lot of damage by remembering them.

"Make sure you get some rest. We still have a whole day of sparring at this level. You have ten minutes!" Jiraiya shouted out as he sat down at the camp. Naruto just panted in frustration. Ero-Sennin could be such a freaking pain!

**One Week Later**

"Ok, Ero-Sennin. Time to show you my newest jutsu made by yours truly!" Naruto said excitedly. He couldn't wait for his sensei to ooh and awe at his awesomeness. Naruto and Jiraiya walked deeply into the desert for Naruto's demonstration. Naruto didn't want to mess up their training ground because he really had no clue how much longer they would be staying in the desert.

"This spot looks perfect, Ero-Sennin! You ready to see a never-before seen jutsu!" Naruto was really excited. He hadn't been this excited since he first learned the shadow clone jutsu. _I mean this is a jutsu that I created! _

"Yah yah, Brat." Jiraiya lazily said. He didn't show it, but Jiraiya was very interested in seeing what his student had come up with. With that high quality wind chakra and the sheer reach and power of it, Naruto should at least have an A-rank jutsu. The only thing that would prevent it from being A-rank would be if Naruto tried to do something stupid that had no fighting purpose. Thinking about it, Jiraiya could see Naruto doing just that._ Please, oh God, let the boy have not screwed up_! Jiraiya prayed fervently.

"Here. We. Go!" Naruto shouted before raising his hands.

Jiraiya was surprised, and very pleased, at Naruto's creation. The jutsu was... very efficient. One of the best things about it in his opinion was that it did not require hand-seals. That would obviously be a plus in any engagement. The cutting ability of the jutsu was also very amazing. Yes, the jutsu could be very, very good. Jiraiya was proud.

"Good, good, Naruto. I admit to being amazed, no awed at your jutsu creation ability! I won't call this jutsu complete just yet though." Jiraiya warned. At seeing Naruto's confused face, Jiraiya hurried to explain. "You will need to increase the numbers as well as the speed before it is complete. You have mainly focused on the cutting ability and the shape manipulation, and it is very good in those regards. Now you need to work on speed and quantity. Once you get those down, I would probably consider this jutsu a high A/ low S-rank jutsu. Congratulations, Naruto." Jiraiya said with a proud smile.

"Yatta! What are we waiting on, Ero-Sennin. Lets get working!" Naruto cried out. Jiraiya smiled as Naruto ran back to their designated training ground. Naruto was different ever since the Duo left. He was much maturer, much... harsher. The boy didn't laugh or good off much anymore, so Jiraiya was glad to see the little kid in him peek out if only just a bit. Naruto was only around 14 after all.

"Don't forget your physical training, Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled out as he ran to catch up with his blonde student. Both started laughing as they made it a race back to the training ground. At least at this point, both master and apprentice were enjoying life and their pursuit of power.

**A/N: New Jutsu coming next chapter, which is almost done by the way. I hope everyone enjoyed this one. At this point in the story, Naruto has been away from Konoha for about 6-6 ½ months. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 6: Unveiling the New Jutsu and Gaara...**

Naruto was so happy. Tears were literally rolling down his face. Ero-Sennin had finally told him that they were leaving the desert. It was one of the best days in his life! Though time spent in the desert heat eventually came to be common, Naruto was still ready to seek out cooler climes. Thus, he was glad they would only be under a desert sun for a few more days. Ero-Sennin had mentioned something about stopping at Sunagakure before making there way back into the Land of Fire and beyond.

Three months since he had first shown Ero-Sennin his new jutsu. That made a total of about five months in the desert. Five months! Yes, Naruto was very glad to be getting out of the desert.

"Ero-Sennin, we can finally see Gaara right?" Naruto asked curiously. "I can't wait to see how he has turned out. (Looks thoughtful). I mean, at one point, he allowed his demon to rule him." Naruto said with confusion in his voice. "But now, I think that Gaara will be his own person. I mean," Naruto said while laughing, "After I defeated him, I believe that I really saw him rethinking his life."

Jiraiya looked at his student. He almost couldn't keep the grin from his face. _Oh is Naruto in for a little surprise when we reach Suna. He he he. I can't wait to see the boy's face! _

"Hm, we will see Naruto. You never know, Gaara might not have changed like you want him too. You should be prepared for him to still be a murdering maniac." Jiraiya said with a straight face. He was not going to ruin the surprise for Naruto. That would be mean. (Jiraiya smiled.)

"I guess, Ero-Sennin, I guess." Naruto said sadly. Naruto didn't want to admit it, but he had to face reality. Gaara _could_ still be the murderer he was during the chunin exams. _I hope not though. I hope that Gaara has changed, but if not..._

"Let's be off, Brat!" Jiraiya yelled out from the other side of their camp. He had started heading out while Naruto was lost in thought. Jiraiya saw Naruto look up suddenly before jogging towards him. They set out together leaving behind their campsite of five months. Jiraiya knew that the sand would destroy all traces of their stay in a matter of hours.

"Ero-Sennin, don't you have a spy network?" Naruto asked curiously after walking in silence for twenty minutes.

Jiraiya arched an eye at his student before answering. "Yes... why do you ask? You have never seemed interested in my work before?"

"Well, most of the times when I think of your 'work' is when you are doing 'research'." Naruto said while making air quotes. Jiraiya let out a perverted chuckle at his student's gestures. "I was just wondering how you were keeping up with your spies if you are always training me?" Naruto asked.

"Nice observation there, Brat." Jiraiya said with a smile. His godson was getting smarter every day! "I actually have a simple solution though. I issued orders to all my spies to place their reports in a certain location. I then placed a delayed summoning tag in each place that is good for 15 summons. At a certain time, those tags go off summoning a toad. The toad gets the report, leaves behind the payment, and then I summon that toad later. This way, I keep up with everything going on, and I train you without any distractions. Good plan, right?" Jiraiya asked with obvious pride.

Naruto had to admit that it was a good plan. He was especially happy about the no distractions part. Naruto could just tell that he wouldn't have gotten any training if Ero-Sennin had to always be off getting his reports.

"Yes, I believe it is. If only you could use that brain of yours to actually get a girl every now and then." Naruto lamented with a sigh. "Yep, its too bad that your still a virgin."

"WHAT!" Jiraiya yelled. "What the hell did you just say, Brat!"

Naruto turned to look at his sensei with an innocent expression on his face. "All I said was that you should use the brain in your head to get a girl instead of using your other head." Naruto said with an innocent look.

"The OTHER thing you said, Naruto!" Ero-Sennin was still yelling. _ Damn, the man sure can yell loudly,_ Naruto thought while rubbing his ears.

"Oh," Naruto muttered with a lightbulb going off in his head. "The part about you being a virgin?" He asked with a curiously.

Jiraiya was about to kill his student! The damn boy was mocking him! _Did Naruto really think that I, super pervert of the world, am still a virgin! I am a damn Sennin. I am a Sage! The ladies flock to me!_

"BOY," Jiraiya whispered dangerously. "If you so much as think that again, I will make sure to train you so hard that you won't be able to move for a week! To think that I, Jiraiya, am a virgin? The very idea is preposterous! The ladies flock to me! The girls swoon around me! I am the sage of Mt. Myoboku! Jiraiya-sama!" Jiraiya shouted out loudly. "I am a man who has tasted the pleasures of many women, and all have come back begging for more. I. Am. No. Virgin!"

Naruto sweat-dropped. His teacher was weird.

The rest of the trip to Suna was done in silence.

Reaching the village, they were stopped at a big cliff by a couple of Suna shinobi. Naruto and Jiraiya showed their papers, and they were allowed into the Sunagakure.

Walking through the streets of Suna was a new experience for Naruto. For one thing, he had never seen such uniform buildings. All the buildings were built exactly the same. All of them were designed for maximum efficiency as well as blending with the environment. It was kind of depressing. At least in Konoha, there was a huge difference in style throughout the village.

The people in the streets were different too. Many of the smiles that the people of Konoha habitually had were not present here. The people seemed to be in a hurry everywhere, and most weren't paying attention to their surroundings except for their destination. _ I guess that people here are just more realistic?_ Naruto pondered. He made a note to ask Ero-Sennin later.

Looking around, Naruto was curious at where they were headed. Ero-Sennin seemed to be going to the big, round building which Naruto assumed to be the Kage's place. That confused Naruto because he had thought that Konoha and Suna weren't on that level of alliance yet. Suna had helped invade Konoha less than a year ago. Now Ero-Sennin, arguably the strongest in Konoha, could waltz into the Kazekage's office?

"Ero-Sennin, what are we doing here?" Naruto asked in confusion. He really didn't understand why they had even come into Suna. It seemed pointless. Of course he wanted to see Gaara, but Gaara could still be a crazy maniac...

"Patience, Brat. Learn it!" Ero-Sennin said sharply. Taken aback, Naruto looked at his teacher in shock. _That was rude!_

Walking through the Kazekage's building, Naruto could see a couple ninja shadowing them. It didn't really worry him since, well, they were about to meet the Kazekage. Any village would have precautions in place just in case. Especially when someone as powerful as Ero-Sennin showed up.

"Kazekage-sama, Jiraiya-sama is here with his apprentice." A secretary called into the room they were standing before. Naruto was getting slightly nervous. He was about to meet one of the, supposedly, five strongest ninja on the continent.

The secretary opened the door fully for them before going back to her desk. Naruto followed his sensei into the room. Looking around, Naruto had to say that the room was pretty bland. There was no real adornments in the room. It felt like the room had been stripped bare except for the essentials. A desk, chair, two couches, and a bookcase were the only thing occupying any space. There wasn't even a rug to add any color to the room.

Seeing the Kazekage staring out the window, Naruto gulped. Firming his resolve, he stepped to Ero-Sennin's side. He wouldn't back down in front of anyone. Thinking about it though, he wasn't really sure why he was nervous about meeting the Kazekage. He never showed any real respect to either of the Hokages that he had known. Shrugging it off to think about another time, Naruto followed his teacher's example and gave a slight bow.

Then Naruto received the surprise of his life, well, asides from Sakura and Sasuke betraying him. The man who turned to look at him and Ero-Sennin was none other than Gaara! Naruto's eyes bugged out. He couldn't believe it! The same Gaara that had killed so many people from Suna. The same Gaara that was a bloodthirsty kid who allowed his biju to control him. Naruto smiled. Gaara had changed.

"Hello, Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya of the Sennin." Gaara spoke in his monotone of a voice.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama." Ero-Sennin said.

"Hello, Gaara." Naruto said. He couldn't keep the smile off his face if he tried. Here he was, Gaara, a person he really wanted to consider his friend. Kazekage. A jinchuriki who rose up from being hated to reach the position of ultimate authority and respect. It was Naruto's dream lived out. He couldn't stop smiling.

Gaara looked at the blonde boy in front of him. Naruto had grown. Muscles were now evident were before there were none. The naivety was also gone from his eyes. Gaara idly wondered what had taken that look from him, but he could take a pretty good guess considering Konoha no longer had any Uchiha to its name. Something else Gaara noticed about Naruto was an aura of competence surrounding him. He had been particularly powerful when they had fought, but Naruto had never given off the feeling of competence. The feeling Gaara had experienced back then was more along the lines of sheer stubbornness.

"You have changed, Naruto Uzumaki. For the better, I believe." Gaara stated.

Slightly surprised, Naruto looked at Gaara curiously. "You have changed too, Gaara. For the better, I know." Gaara slightly smiled at the blonde's words. It felt good to know that all of your hard work was acknowledged by the person who understood you the most.

"While it is nice to see you both, may I ask why you are here?" Gaara questioned. It was not everyday that Jiraiya of the Sennin showed up at the door. It was too bad that Jiraiya was also known for bringing bad news when he _did_ show up at the door.

Jiraiya watched in amusement as the two boys slowly sniffed each other out. He had gotten a good mental kick from seeing Naruto's surprise, but he soon got down to business. From the reports he had read, both of the boys had tried their best to show each other their ninja way. Naruto had come out on top and completely changed the red-hair kid. Impressive. Even more impressive was Gaara's rise to Kazekage after that change. The boy standing before him in the Kazekage Hat was truly an interesting kid. He had to be only around 15 as well. Truly impressive.

"I am here to warn you of a threat in person. The Akatsuki is a group of S-rank missing nin. We have confirmed that Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are both members of this group. We don't know why, but their goal is the collection of all 9 Biju. That means that they are aiming for the jinchuriki." Jiraiya clarified in his most serious voice. Naruto had only ever witnessed this voice a couple of times. Once was when Ero-Sennin was fighting Orochimaru.

"I am just warning you in advance. In about two years, they are supposed to really start moving against the jinchuriki. I would advise you to beef up defense as well as prepare yourself for this ordeal. One of the reasons I am training Naruto is in preparation for their attack." Jiraiya said.

Gaara looked at the man in front of him. Jiraiya had delivered alarming information. His reputation of being a man of bad news seemed to be accurate. Not allowing the surprise to show on his face, Gaara said, "Thank you for the information. Suna will be ready if they decide to attack." Putting the issue aside for further discussion by his top officials, Gaara looked to his guests once more.

"Ah..." Ero-Sennin sighed. "Now that the serious stuff is through, let's get down to my other request. Tell me where the baths are! I need to do some 'research'!" Ero-Sennin loudly shouted. Naruto sighed while shaking his head. His sensei would never learn! The man could be a complete idiot whenever it came to his 'research'.

Naruto could tell Gaara was getting agitated at the man's antics just from the way the sand was swirling around him. Maybe that was just agitation from their earlier talks... nah. It was all Ero-Sennin's fault.

"Oh, before I head to the baths. I did have one question. Is there any way you can give Naruto the **Kaze no Yaiba** jutsu (Wind Blade)?" Seeing the Kazekage's look of disapproval, Jiraiya hurried to explain. "You don't have to worry about Naruto actually using the jutsu (cough, much) because I am hoping Naruto can convert the jutsu into his own little thing. Since I did give you that amazing information, don't you think it would be fair to give us something in return..." Jiraiya said quite playfully.

Gaara looked at the idiot/pervert/legendary ninja in front of him. He could see Naruto Uzumaki off to the side with his face in his hands. Uzumaki was clearly embarrassed by his sensei's acts. As he should be. For Jiraiya of the Sennin to just ask for such a high level jutsu from Suna like that. It was preposterous. The Wind Blade was a treasured technique of Suna. To just give it away...

Gaara had to admit though to temptation. Naruto had changed his life. Naruto's light had shown him the way. Without Naruto, Gaara knew that he would have kept on killing until someone finally killed him. With Naruto's path before him, Gaara had changed. Now the village trusted him. Now the village had nominated him as Kage. Jiraiya of the Sennin had given him vital information as well...

Gaara decided that a test was in order. If Naruto could defeat Baki, then Gaara would allow Baki to teach Naruto the jutsu. Basically, if Naruto wanted it, he would have to seize it. Smiling to himself, Gaara knew that his plan would show him even more of Naruto Uzumaki. Uzumaki seemed much more powerful now, and Gaara wanted to see that strength. The strength of someone who protected! Gaara wanted to see just how much it helped. Gaara became a Kage with that strength; Naruto had to become at least a jounin level ninja with that strength.

"Ok." Gaara finally said. "There are certain conditions though." Jiraiya's eyes narrowed when he heard there would be conditions. Things never turned out good when there were conditions. "Naruto must seize the jutsu from the one who wields it the best. Naruto must defeat my old sensei in combat. If he does, I will allow Baki to teach the jutsu to him. The fight will be tomorrow at 11. My siblings and I will be the only ones watching. It will take place at my personal training ground. My sister will meet you tomorrow at 10:30 to show you the way. Do not disappoint me, Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara said, still in his monotone while dismissing them.

Naruto shuddered... in excitement. If this Baki was Gaara's old sensei, that would mean the man was a jounin. Naruto knew that he was good, but he wasn't sure if he could defeat an elite jounin. _He he he, I will just use this situation as a means to grow stronger. I will not lose this battle. I really have no clue why Ero-Sennin thinks I should learn this jutsu, but I will win this! Through this battle, I will be one step closer to getting strong enough to reach my goal. Through this fight, I will get stronger! _Naruto was positively giddy at the prospect of trying out his strength.

Naruto smirked as he left the Kazekage's office. He couldn't wait to truly test his new jutsu for the first time. Ero-Sennin said it was battle ready. Naruto would see if that was the truth tomorrow. Time to show the world what wind chakra could _really_ do in the right hands!

**Next Day**

The next day came quickly for Naruto. He had spent the last night going over some strategies that he could use in the fight today. Ero-Sennin hadn't been very helpful though. The man mainly suggested to not get hit by any wind jutsus. Ero-Sennin had also given the Ok to test out the new jutsu though. Naruto couldn't wait!

Temari walked to the hotel her brother had sent her towards to pick up Jiraiya of the Sennin and his apprentice. She didn't really know why Gaara was putting on this match, but it didn't make sense to her. Why was he willing to give up such a powerful jutsu to people from Konoha? It didn't make sense! _ Jiraiya's apprentice is probably some arrogant bastard anyway; Gaara should have given me the opportunity to learn the Kaze no Yaiba over some stranger! _Temari thought scathingly.

She arrived at the hotel with five minutes to spare. Seeing no one waiting for her made her slightly annoyed. The least the two could do was come meet her at the door. Temari walked inside the hotel to the front desk.

"Hello," Temari said politely. "Can you tell me which room Jiraiya and his apprentice are staying in?" She asked.

The owner of the inn was in shock. In front of her was the beautiful sister of the Kazekage! "Of course, Temari-sama! I would be happy to. They are staying in room 34. Is there anything else I can do for you Temari-sama?" The owner asked with much flattery.

Temari thanked the woman and told her that she didn't need anything else before walking away. Sometimes she really couldn't get used to the villager's complete attitude change. Just a year ago the woman would have answered with a scared tone because people thought her brother must be with her if she was near. Now everyone was always nice and tried to do everything they could to get on her good side where the 'Kazekage' would hear of them. It was almost sickening how fickle the villager's thoughts were.

Temari arrived at the door and knocked. After waiting a few minutes, the door finally opened, and Temari was surprised, to say the least. The person in front of her was none other than Naruto Uzumaki! The same boy that had defeated Gaara during the invasion. _ No wonder Gaara allowed him to try to gain that jutsu_, Temari thought wonderingly, _Naruto opened Gaara's eyes to the world. Without Naruto, Gaara would never have risen to were he is today._

"Naruto!" Temari exclaimed. "_You_ are the student of Jiraiya of the Sennin?"

Naruto looked at the pretty girl in front of him. If he remembered correctly, this was Gaara's sister, Temari. She used wind jutsus during the Chunin Exams.

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled. "The Old Pervert has been training me for a while now. Temari, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Temari said. She then rushed up and gave Naruto a hug. It was a big hug with her arms wrapped around him as far as they could reach. "Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki. You saved my brother." Temari whispered into Naruto's ear.

Naruto was shocked. He could honestly not remember getting a hug like that from a girl anywhere near his age range. Of course Ba-chan had hugged him good, but she was like, really old. This was a girl only a couple years older than him. He hugged her back.

"No problem. I am glad that Gaara changed." Naruto said with a smile. He truly was glad. It made him glad to know that a person who was so like him had changed with his words. It made him glad to know that Gaara was no longer a killer. Now, Gaara was a protector.

After a couple of seconds of peaceful feelings while hugging, Jiraiya just had to break it up. He couldn't let such a great opportunity pass him by after all! Throwing his arms around both kids, Jiraiya shouted, "Yes, let us all love each other! By the power of hugs will all the world bow!"

Naruto couldn't help it. He started dying out laughing. "Ha ha ha!" The ridiculousness of his sensei was just too damn much! _Ero-Sennin, one day someone is really going to destroy you because of your sense of humor. The stupidest things just come out of your mouth_! Naruto thought with tears coming from his eyes. Ero-Sennin truly was something...

Temari just looked at the man who was supposed to be one of the strongest in the world. After seeing Naruto break into what looked like painful laughter (from the stupidness of his sensei, she was sure), she was really starting to worry about the sanity of one of the world's strongest men. _Who the hell says shit like that!_ Temari thought inwardly

Naruto finally calmed himself down enough to push Ero-Sennin off of Temari and himself. His fellow blonde did _not_ look amused. Ero-Sennin's humor took some getting used to... and medication.

"Well, now that the comedy show is over, how about we get going?" Naruto loudly asked. Seeing Temari's quick nod, they both left before the pervert could get up. Running outside, Temari and Naruto made quick work to the training ground.

Jiraiya was still on his ass. "Damn kids." He grumbled. "No respect. What is wrong with hugs and love for the world?" He asked the world at large. Unfortunately, he found no answer. Deciding to finally get up, Jiraiya made his way to the lobby to find some directions. He had absolutely no clue where the training ground was located.

"You finally arrived, Temari, Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara stated. The training ground Temari had led Naruto to was slightly different then many of the other training grounds in Suna. The one they were at actually had a small spring. This allowed the occupants to practice water walking as well as any Suiton jutsu they had. Also in the training ground were trees. Due to the desert region Suna was located in, trees and water were absent at many of the training grounds. A personal training ground for the Kazekage and family did have some perks.

Naruto looked around already trying to think of ways to use the environment to his advantage. His inability to utilize Suiton jutsus, and his utter lack of many jutsu really did not allow this though. _Oh well, looks like its just me and this guy. Time to show just what my chain jutsu can do!_ Naruto thought happily.

Naruto and Baki each took their place in the training area while Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari stood off to the side. Gaara looked between each contestant before signaling them to begin. Naruto and Baki shot off at each other.

Naruto knew that someone selected to be a sensei over the Kazekage's own children would be better than him. There was no doubt in his mind of that fact as he charged the older man. Baki would have the experience, speed, and jutsu library that were all better than his. Naruto knew this. That was why he did what he did. He charged straight on.

Naruto's right fist was blocked by Baki's forearm. His sweep was jumped over. Baki turned his jump into a spin that aimed his elbow right at Naruto's head. Ducking quickly, Naruto responded with an uppercut to the chin. This was dodged too.

Trading blows for a couple minutes quickly left Naruto with one thought: he was definitely outmatched! Baki was just better than him. Everything he did was either blocked or dodged while Naruto himself had already taken a couple of glancing blows. Naruto did take satisfaction in the fact that none of those blows had been full body blows. Ero-Sennin's training was paying off in spades. Naruto was at least keeping up with an elite jounin!

Jumping back quickly, Naruto began gathering his chakra. Baki, sensing the chakra spike, jumped back to assess the danger. Naruto smiled. The man was not going to know what hit him.

Naruto raised his arm. Molding his chakra into a physical shape while grinding his chakra to the sharpest edge he could, Naruto unleashed his new jutsu.

"**Kaze no Chen!**" (Chain of the Winds) Naruto yelled. Out of his hand shot, what Naruto liked to call, pure wind chakra given form. With a color of sky blue, out of Naruto's hand came a chain of wind chakra. Link by link forged from the sharpest wind chakra Naruto could produce, the Kaze no Chen was a jutsu designed for supreme flexibility. The chain could reach great lengths as well as grow larger with more chakra. Naruto had devoted months to pure shape manipulation to be able to forge the chain, and he had spent even more time honing his ability to make it accurate and fast. The chain reached Baki with great speed.

"What the hell is this!" Baki yelled out. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it wouldn't be safe for him to touch it. Smiling slightly at the challenge before him, Baki swiftly body-flickered away. Naruto Uzumaki was becoming interesting. Well, more interesting. He had defeated Gaara after all.

Naruto smiled. Baki had just fallen into his plan. The jounin appeared to his right, rushing towards him at full speeds. From Naruto's extended chain came a new chain branching out from the base. Baki was only steps away from Naruto. He tried to roll away, but he was not quick enough. The chain pierce Baki's right arm. Baki's arm was now bleeding freely as he stood up and assessed the damage from the jutsu of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that if these chains touch you, you will be cut." Naruto said cheerily.

Baki grimaced in pain. _A freaking kid had just injured him! So what if Naruto was Jiraiya-sama's apprentice. The kid was only 14 or so!_ "Well, Naruto Uzumaki. You have gotten me interested. Care to tell me about that jutsu of yours? I have to say that I have never seen anything like it." Baki called out.

Naruto smirked. "I will pass, Mr. Elite Jounin." He said. "I am not stupid enough to tell you the secrets of my jutsu which I am going to use to beat you." Naruto said in a singsong voice.

Naruto heard Baki let out a short laugh before rushing back in. Naruto smiled in joy. He might very well be outmatched if their duel turned into a slugfest, but Naruto _was_ going to win with his very own jutsu! He decided it was time to get serious.

Bringing up his other hand, Naruto called another chain. This chain flew towards Baki while Naruto manipulated the other chain into aiming for Baki as well. In midair from the base of Naruto's palms, many more chains spiked out around the central chains. Now racing towards the jounin were ten chains of concentrated wind chakra! Baki tried to sidestep using his speed, but Naruto's control erased that advantage through sheer versatility. All the chains quickly followed Baki's every move. The jounin was now trapped. The jounin was now cut. Chains had pierced through multiple parts of Baki's body. Baki was down for the count.

"Naruto Uzumaki wins." Gaara stated with a tinge of passion. The match he had just watched had assured him of his decision. To protect ones precious people truly gave one the power to grow stronger. Stronger than any others. Gaara smiled.

Temari was shocked. Her sensei had just been beaten by a kid! She could barely even touch her sensei, but someone younger than her had beaten him! Gaara could beat Baki, but he was, well, he was Gaara. Following that logic, Naruto could technically beat Baki since Naruto had beaten Gaara, but still...

Jiraiya smiled with pride. He had gotten to the training field in time to see the ending where Naruto pulled out multiple chains. The jutsu was something to see. Naruto might not have known it, but he had almost recreated his mother's jutsu. Naruto used wind chakra though where as Kushina used her unique chakra abilities. Jiraiya smiled. His godson was getting stronger.

"As agreed, Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara said when Naruto walked up to him. Gaara had already sent Kankuro to get medical attention for Baki. The man seemed to be bleeding pretty badly.

"You will be allowed to learn the Kaze no Yaiba. I hope you use it well." Gaara stated before walking away. Naruto figured he had Kage duties or something to perform. Paperwork or something like that.

Scratching his head in confusion, Naruto left the training ground with Temari talking excitedly in his ear. Jiraiya looked on with pride. Naruto was growing up!

**A/N: …. I don't really know how that fight scene turned out. Any comments will be helpful. The chain jutsu will quickly become Naruto's new bread and butter. More new jutsu will be added as this fic goes on. **

**If anyone noticed, Baki didn't use a single jutsu, and he was caught by surprise from a jutsu he had never seen before. This allowed Naruto's win. Naruto himself only has base stats of low jounin at this point. If Baki had used jutsu, then the match might have been different. Hopefully that answers any questions anyone had. **

**If anyone was wondering, Naruto never saw Gaara after the finals because there was never a Rescue Sasuke mission because Sakura never reported Sasuke had left. So Naruto never knew that Gaara had actually changed for the better. This shows that Sakura's leaving made a bigger impact than just the obvious. As the fic goes on, Sakura's leaving will have other subtle effects as well. Though, Sakura herself, will not be that strong. She will still have her own abilities that complement Sasuke's own. **

**New Jutsu list: **

**Kaze no Chen (High A-rank/low S-rank): Pure wind chakra given physical properties in the form of chains. These chains are able to cut pretty much anything. Naruto can make as many chains as he wants with this jutsu as long as he has the control necessary to use them. Any chain can move as Naruto wills them. He will later learn how to dull them where he can use them for less lethal purposes, but he does not have that ability at this time. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 7: Death All Around**

"Are you sure about this, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked suspiciously as he and his sensei looked down from atop a cliff at the city below.

"Of course I am, Brat." Ero-Sennin said with a grin. Naruto wasn't convinced. His sensei was acting weird again.

Currently, both shinobi were standing above the city of Hita in the Land of Frost. After Naruto learned the **Kaze no Yaiba** in Suna, the two had traveled back through Fire Country to the Land of Hot Water.

It was in the Land of Hot Water that _so_ many things started going wrong. It just so happened that Ero-Sennin just _had_ to satisfy his addiction during the all female day at the local hot springs. This resulted in Naruto's utter humiliation because he had to drag Ero-Sennin out of the hot springs as the ladies were beating him up. The ladies just happened to be naked at the time, so running out of an all female hot spring with a naked man who had the words pervert painted all over him while his own nose was bleeding badly really did not make Naruto happy.

Naruto made a swift retreat from the country. Naruto then mercilessly beat Ero-Sennin until only black and blue was showing for humiliating him like that. It helped that his sensei was still unconscious at the time from the beating the ladies gave him.

They were currently in the Land of Frost. A couple weeks earlier, they had received a letter from Ba-chan. She, knowing the general area they were in through the toads, wanted them to make contact with a ninja clan about an herb they cultivated. Of course, that problem soon spiraled out of control because Ero-Damn-Sennin had to feel up the wrong woman. Now, they were on the run from the ninja clan they were supposed to be asking a favor of because the woman Ero-Sennin felt up was the head of the ninja clan! Life was so not fair.

"So your absolutely, 100% positive that the Curo Clan lives in that town? If your wrong, it will probably mean that we will be attacked again." Naruto thought about it a few minutes before muttering. "I guess that we will be attacked if we go down there anyway because of your grabby hands."

"Its not my fault, Brat! I am a super pervert! I can't _not_ proposition a beautiful woman if she is before me!" Ero-Sennin cried out with perfect reasoning... to him. Naruto just shook his head. His sensei was one of a kind.

"So what's the game plan this time, Ero-Sennin? Do we go in there with jutsu ready, or do we sneak in?" Naruto asked after getting serious. Having ninja coming out of the woodwork to attack them was becoming annoying. It was also cutting into his training time. The stupid lady had even put a bounty on them!

"Why are you asking me? How about you go and do it yourself, Mr. Hotshot!" Ero-Sennin said indignantly.

Naruto turned around to look at his sensei incredulously. _He is the one who got me in this mess, and now he won't even take responsibility! _ _The sheer gall of the man!_ Sometimes Naruto wondered what made him respect his sensei so much. Then he saw the man in action, and all his misgivings were put to rest. Shaking his head, Naruto slid down the cliff into the town below. He would be polite. It couldn't hurt to try at least.

Jiraiya looked on as his student used his advancing chakra control to perfectly slide down a cliff. The boy was coming along well. Naruto had become a solid A-rank ninja in the year and two months Jiraiya had been training him. Though Naruto's progress had slowed as they passed through Fire Country, Jiraiya figured that it was more because of all the stops at various towns along the way.

After spending an additional three weeks in Wind Country for Naruto to learn the **Kaze no Yaiba,** Jiraiya had then spent another couple of months helping Naruto make the jutsu his own as they traveled through Fire Country. It seemed that Naruto had a particular talent at shape manipulation. If he could envision the jutsu, he could pretty much make it. It was a nice talent to have.

Jiraiya had used even more time to boost Naruto's physical strength as well as chakra control. That was actually the real reason they were in The Land of Hot Water in the first place: to make sure Naruto's chakra control was up to the level Jiraiya figured it should be. Jiraiya just got a little distracted by bounty in breasts placed in front of him. _ I mean, seriously, who could blame me_? Jiraiya chuckled to himself.

The monetary bounty placed upon them did give him more opportunities to train Naruto though. That was the only reason he hadn't already forced the Curo Clan head to rescind the bounty. Naruto's practical experience with his new jutsu was advancing at a timely rate. Naruto was becoming even more skilled at maneuvering his chain jutsu in actual combat situations. The boy's chain jutsu could decimate lower level enemies with ease. Wincing slightly at the memory, Jiraiya couldn't help but reflect on Naruto's first time to use it in real combat. Naruto's first kills weren't pretty...

**Flashback 1 Month Ago:**

It was a week after the... unfortunate incident in the Land of Hot Water. Jiraiya still had some of the bruises from that time. Too bad Naruto wouldn't give him the time to rest. _Why can't the youth understand the pains of their elders. They should obey their elders, and when their elders say rest, they should listen. But do they do this, no!_ Jiraiya lamented.

They were about to pass into the border of the Land of Frost. Snow was already covering the ground as they moved farther into the colder climate. Jiraiya had at least convinced his hard-headed apprentice to walk at a sedate pace instead of the faster, ninja pace Naruto wanted._ You can't go everywhere in a hurry after all,_ Jiraiya had told him. _Sometimes you just have to enjoy the time spent getting there._

Jiraiya slowly raised his head as he detected a chakra source coming their way. He narrowed his eyes before grunting in annoyance. Whoever was coming was weak! _If they want to fight, I guess I can just leave it to Naruto. Ooh! Maybe it is a beautiful woman! Then I won't care if she is weak or not!_ Jiraiya thought excitedly.

His hopes were crushed though when an ugly male shinobi came jumping out of the trees in front of them. _Damn it! _ Tears were shed at his bad luck. Jiraiya quickly stifled a chuckle at seeing Naruto's look. The boy really needed to lighten up and develop a sense of humor. _Naruto doesn't have to stare __at me like I am crazy every time I get a little teary-eyed. I mean, I have great reasons for every time I shed a manly tear!_

Jiraiya snorted at his own thoughts. He then looked back up at the suicidal ninja that was still rushing them. Couldn't the man move _any_ faster! Sighing, he decided he better get this over with.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called. His student's head turned to look at him. "This one's all yours. Show me something good, Brat!" Jiraiya said with a thumbs-up. Naruto grimaced slightly before moving out.

Naruto started out with taijutsu. Jiraiya just shook his head in shame. The fool couldn't keep up with his Godson at all. This wasn't even a challenge to Naruto! Naruto then planted the idiot's head into the ground, and it didn't seem like Naruto would be letting him up for a while. Might as well move in and see why he attacked.

"So... why did you just attack us out of nowhere?" Jiraiya asked curiously. Naruto lifted the man's head out of the ground where he could answer.

Spit! "I aint telling you shit, you piece of shit!" The man so nicely said.

Jiraiya got a _little_ ticked. One thing he couldn't stand was people spitting at him! Another thing he couldn't stand was people with no vocabulary. _I mean, can't the man say something besides shit_? It tended to make him angry! Using his right foot, he delivered a splendid kick to the man's head that knocked out a few teeth. Bending down, Jiraiya got into the man's face.

"Listen here, you little fool. Tell me why you suddenly decided to attack a Sennin and his apprentice, and I may decide to _not_ feed you to my toads!" Jiraiya said in a very commanding voice.

The dude shat himself when he heard who he was attacking. Jiraiya was even more disgusted. The idiot in front of him didn't even know who he was attacking! Talk about stupidity!

Jiraiya then whipped around. He just sensed even more people coming their way. This time there seemed to be three of them. _Sigh, what is with today? With my luck, all of them are going to be ugly men bent on attacking us too!_

"More are coming." Jiraiya warned his student. Jiraiya saw Naruto grin slightly before heading out to take the new foes head on. That slightly worried Jiraiya. Naruto was becoming much too battle happy for his taste. _I know the kid wants to push his powers more and more to prepare for when he takes on Sasuke and Sakura, but there are limits! He shouldn't just rush into every battle to increase his experience and power. _

Jiraiya saw Naruto engage with the enemy nin. This time, Naruto went in with his jutsu leading. Jiraiya gulped. This would not end well. Naruto had never really used that jutsu on people weaker than him. Naruto technically knew how sharp the jutsu was, but in reality... well this was going to become bloody.

Chains of wind flew from Naruto's right arm as he pointed it at one of the enemies. The enemy didn't stand a chance. The jutsu punched right through his chest and out to the other side. Jiraiya sighed in sadness as he saw Naruto's body tense up in shock. This almost cost him as the enemy nin kept up their attack.

Naruto finally broke out of his shock, but his next move almost sent him right back into it. With his jutsu still active and piercing the dead nin, Naruto moved his arm to attack the ninja on the right. This caused the chain stuck through the dead ninja to move right, almost completely bisecting the already dead body. Blood flew everywhere. The jutsu also caught the ninja on the right at shoulder height. The man was caught blind-sided, and he was cut in half.

The ninja on the left faltered only for a second at his comrades deaths, but Naruto was able to use that against him. His chain bent to the left and circled around Naruto before it impaled the man through the heart. All three attacking ninja were dead. The ninja they had captured earlier had also pissed himself. Jiraiya just sighed. He just knew it was going to be a long night as he could already hear Naruto throwing up.

Jiraiya turned around, patted the downed ninja on the head, extracted the information he needed, and then went to take care of the emotional wreckage that happened to be his student. Jiraiya was right; it was a _long_ night.

**Flashback End**

Naruto reached the bottom of the cliff and headed into the city. He was looking around for someone to give him information when he suddenly stopped and sweat-dropped. It was obvious where he was going; the Curo Clan, in their wisdom, had shinobi posted all around their building. It was like they were afraid or something. _Why would they be afraid,_ Naruto thought sarcastically. _They only got the news that Ero-Sennin was coming after them for trying to kill him. _

Naruto walked up to the door. The ninja looked like they were about to attack, but Naruto only knocked on the door. Politeness, thy name is Naruto.

The door was opened by a servant who let Naruto in. The servant led him into a room off the main hall. Naruto's eyes slowly rose as he went through the house. The place was freaking loaded! Various works of art, fine furniture, and other symbols of wealth were everywhere. Guess that explained the big bounty on their head.

After waiting a few minutes, someone finally showed up. Naruto was just glad that it was the clan head. _At least the woman is beautiful,_ Naruto thought. _I can almost see why Ero-Sennin felt her up. No, bad Naruto! Bad thoughts! _ Shaking his head, Naruto got back on task. _I guess my description has gotten to them by now since they seem to already know who I am_.

"Ah, Mrs. Amelia Curo, pleasure to meet you." Naruto said genially

"Jiraiya-sama's traveling companion, it is nice to meet you as well." Amelia replied back. At least the boy in front of her knew some manners. She had never been so humiliated than when that damn pervert had groped her breasts. It wasn't until later that she found out just _who_ she had put a bounty on. It worried her even more when most of the people who attacked the Sennin and his companion ended up defeated, and some even ended up dead. Now, all she wanted to do was sort out this huge misunderstanding.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Mrs." Naruto clarified. "Now, lets get down to business. My sensei and I would greatly appreciate you getting rid of our bounty. It has caused us some trouble and is really interfering with my training. If you get rid of the bounty, no harm will come to you and your clan." Naruto said still with a genial air about him, though it did slip slightly when he mentioned trouble.

Amelia gulped. Not only had she put a bounty on a Sennin, she had also put one on his apprentice! The boy in front of her was probably some kind of super ninja himself! She wanted to cry at the unfairness of life.

"I think that sounds like a great idea, Mr. Uzumaki. I would be more than happy to consent with your request." Amelia said with guarded relief. It didn't seem like Jiraiya and his student were going to utterly destroy her life after all. She had been worried...

"I would also like a sample of a herb your clan cultivates. I believe a small sample of the Curoian Leaf would be fair compensation for the trouble you have put us through, don't you?" Naruto asked with a smile. A very _innocent_ smile that is.

Amelia shook slightly. The boy in front of her was slightly creepy. She was starting to get the feeling that he _really_ didn't like her. She couldn't really guess why, but some of the dead ninja had been said to be literally bisected. Maybe the boy in front of her had been responsible because Jiraiya usually was not attributed powers that bisected people. The power to summon 100 feet toads and turn an entire country to mud, yes, but the power to cut people in half, no. Ninja were funny that way.

"Of course, Mr. Uzumaki." Amelia gushed nervously. She really didn't want the boy in front of her to kill her! Getting up quickly, Amelia rushed from the room to the herb garden in the back. Digging up a small plant, she gently placed it in a pot before writing down the instructions on how to care for it. She was going to do all she could to save her ass. Ninja who had their name mentioned when people talked about the strongest in the continent usually had a lot of blood in their history. Amelia was sure that Jiraiya was no different. She would not let her clan be destroyed! Even if that meant she had to acquiesce with Jiraiya and his student's demands.

Hurrying back into the room were Naruto Uzumaki was waiting, she handed him the pot. He took it from her hands carefully before making hand-seals. Amelia tensed and got ready for anything, but she was surprised to see a small toad appear. Naruto Uzumaki handed the pot to the toad, and the toad then disappeared.

"Thank you for you help, Mrs. Amelia. I am glad this issue got sorted out before more blood was shed." Naruto said before heading to the hallway. Amelia then led him to the exit from there. Stopping at the door to the outside, Amelia said.

"I have already signaled my Clan to remove the bounty on you and your sensei. I hope you have a safe trip and remember the Curo clan for its helpfulness. This was all just a big misunderstanding in my books." Amelia said with a strained smile. Her breasts still had phantom aches from that pervert's gropes. Powerful as anything he might be, but that didn't excuse him from being a pervert!

"Thank you again, Mrs. Amelia. I must be going now." Naruto said with a final wave good-bye. That was easier than he thought it would be. The woman was scared stiff of him. Ero-Sennin's name by itself was enough to send the weaker shinobi and shinobi clans running. _ Interesting. I wonder if my own name will scare people at some point in the future_. Naruto pondered.

Naruto made his way out of the town. He was extremely glad to have gotten that mess sorted out. Because of all that trouble, he had to kill for the first time. Well, it was more like he learned the true power of his wind jutsu. Wind cut, and the human body was very cuttable. Naruto grimaced as he remembered the blood that splashed everywhere. Quickly shaking his head to suppress the memory, Naruto noticed his sensei waiting for him up ahead.

"Everything is settled, Ero-Sennin. The Curo Clan agreed to get rid of the bounty, and they expressed their sincere apologies for their screw-up. I also already sent Ba-chan her herb through the toads." Naruto reported.

Jiraiya grinned. His student was learning. He had accomplished all their goals without even getting into a fight. All this diplomatic stuff would be good experience for when Naruto reached the seat of Hokage. Hokage were only one part fighter. The other part was diplomat. Naruto was growing in both areas, Jiraiya was proud to say.

"Thats good, Brat!" Jiraiya said happily. "Now we won't have anyone on our tails as we go to your next training spot."

Naruto was interested. The last real training spot they had used was the desert. Where was Ero-Sennin taking him now, the mountains?

"We are headed to the mountains of the Land of Frost! There you will pit yourself against the cold itself in a fierce struggle for survival. You will be deprived of food, warmth, and clothing! Will you survive or will you perish. Let us go and find out!" Ero-Sennin yelled out melodramatically.

Naruto sweat-dropped before tears leaked down his eyes. _ I was joking! I didn't really want to go to the mountains that have recorded temperatures of below 0˚ F!_ Naruto yelled out from the comforts of his mind. Naruto moped as he followed his sensei into the next hell Ero-Sennin had planned for him.

"But look on the bright side, Naruto. I have an awesome idea for a new jutsu!" Jiraiya said to lift his student's spirit.

Naruto just cried even more_. It is probably something pervy!_ Naruto lamented. Naruto walked on despondently as the land gradually sloped up, and the temperatures dropped. He just knew that he was going to hate this.

**A/N: I actually had a hard time with the flashback. As some may have noticed I only used Jiraiya's viewpoint on it, so it was missing all the emotional turbulence Naruto was going through at the time. Though I think I showed a little of the emotions Naruto was still experiencing because of his first kill through Amelia's eyes.**

**The Curo Clan was completely OC. They were also how I see weak ninja clan view the stronger ninja. Jiraiya is a S-class ninja, and I believe that people who only know him through reputation would be scared stiff of the dude or any other really powerful ninja for that matter. The clan as a whole really doesn't have any strong shinobi. The most powerful being only at chunin level. That was why Amelia, the head of the clan, scrambled to fulfill Naruto's wish. She was terrified of Jiraiya destroying her clan for basically attacking him. It makes sense to me, I hope it does for everyone else too. **

**I didn't show Naruto using the Kaze no Yaiba, or any alterations, in this chapter. It, and the new jutsu, will probably be next chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed reading. Until next time! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**Chapter 8: Freezing: Good for the Mind or Bad?**

"Yo, Naruto!" Ero-Sennin hailed. "How was your night out?" He choked out before bursting out laughing.

Naruto looked at his sensei. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared. His nipples were hard. It _was_ below 0˚ F ,and Naruto only had a loin-cloth to cover his nudity with. Ero-Sennin had had the most _brilliant_ idea! It went something along the lines of 'lets throw Naruto out into the freezing cold snow in the mountains without any clothes on!' To toughen him up was Ero-Sennin's excuse. Naruto wasn't buying it.

"I really hate you, Ero-Sennin. I mean, I _really_ hate you. If it is the last thing I do, I will make you _suffer_." Naruto growled out. Ero-Sennin just smiled. Oh how Naruto was going to enjoy wiping that smile away. Plans started rolling in the devious mind of Naruto Uzumaki.

"I do this for your own good, Brat. Remember that! With my training, you will get better in no time! That's why you will be on your own for the next six months. While your out there, I want you to work on your Futon abilities. I will also be visiting you periodically to spar and test your capabilities." Jiraiya explained while getting serious.

Last night and the day before were both just warm-ups for the real thing, Naruto knew. Ero-Sennin was going to start throwing him out into the snow all by himself for months at a time as the actual training. It was Ero-Sennin's idea that the cold would shape his body into the fittest it could possibly be. _I mean, what better way to develop strength than to throw your entire being against the freezing cold. _Naruto thought contemplatively. He still wasn't too sure about the whole idea, but he was starting to warm to it.

Jiraiya himself was a tad bit worried. Even with chakra to help stay warm, only using the lightest clothes in freezing weather could kill even the toughest shinobi. He just had to believe in Naruto though. The boy would pull through. It was the only thing that _Naruto_ would allow, so Jiraiya would place his faith in his student. If Naruto didn't pull through... Jiraiya just shook his head. He didn't even _want_ to imagine what Tsunade would do to him.

Naruto nodded his head to his sensei. Ero-Sennin might come up with the stupidest, cliché ideas for training, but Naruto had to admit that they sure worked well. He knew that living in the snow for months would test his body to the limit. Not only would he have to use chakra control to stay warm, Naruto would also have to find food and shelter. And if a blizzard came up! Naruto shivered. _Suffice to say that it will be very hard to live on my own in this environment. _

"Come with me, Brat. Lets get you warm before I give you some last tips." Ero-Sennin said as he led him into the cabin they had been occupying. Naruto sighed with relief as soon as he stepped in. The cabin was warm! After a day and night in the snow, warmth was a great feeling.

After a couple of hours of rest and recuperation for Naruto, Jiraiya decided to give his last bits of advice. It was around midday, and Jiraiya wanted Naruto gone by two. The mountain they were on was only the first in the range. Jiraiya was going to make sure that his student went much deeper into the mountain range for Naruto's months long sojourn.

"Ok!" Jiraiya said with a clap of his hands. "First off, let me talk about your self-made jutsu. Your **Kaze no Chen** is a jutsu of amazing cutting power. It has speed, versatility, and a really sharp edge. The only problem with that jutsu is that people can see it and possibly block it. Thus I had you learn the **Kaze no Yaiba**." Jiraiya said in his best 'teacher' voice.

"The **Kaze no Yaiba** is an invisible, A-rank jutsu that can also cut very well. It is a more mid-range/short-range jutsu unlike your wind chains that are long-range. Its invisibility makes it almost impossible to block. You have two very powerful Futon jutsu. Both are A-rank jutsu that kill things very easily." Jiraiya said seriously. Killing was always a serious thing.

"I know you know all this, Naruto, but a refresher never hurt anyone. These are dangerous jutsu as you have already found out over your time with me. Your version of the **Kaze no Yaiba** is more dangerous still." Jiraiya breathed in deeply before continuing. "The point is that in the wilds, you have no reason to hold back. Go wild! Learn everything you can about your jutsu by using them to the max. Try to cut through trees, rocks, hell, even a mountain! Learn everything you can. It might save your life one day to know just what you can cut through."

"During these six months, your body will change. It will become harder and stronger and taller. I have no doubt that Orochimaru will be using drugs and other substances on Sasuke to make him stronger than he normally would be. This is my answer to that! The icy wind will tear at your skin. The freezing cold will burn you. Blizzards will chill you to the bone. Survive it!" Jiraiya yelled.

"When you come back, you will be stronger! I have _no_ doubt. Explore your jutsu while you are out there, Naruto. Come back with a brand new jutsu that combines all the best of the **Kaze no Yaiba** and the **Kaze no Chen**. We will work on taijutsu when I visit, but for the most part, I want your ninjutsu to advance to a higher level. One last thing, Naruto Uzumaki. Come back alive." Jiraiya said quietly.

Naruto looked at his sensei. He looked past the bravado and the words of wisdom. What he saw surprised him. He saw worry. Worry that he wouldn't come back. It felt nice to know that old Ero-Sennin cared so much.

"Thanks, Ero-Sennin." Naruto said softly. "Don't worry about me though. I will come back stronger than ever." Naruto then chuckled. "You _have_ spent the last month going over different chakra exercises with me to make sure my chakra control is high enough where I can survive hours on end even in the coldest weather." Naruto muttered smartly.

Jiraiya smirked. It seemed his student had already figured out his game-plan. The brat was growing more observant. _Though I have to admit that it is not exactly hard to figure out that I would be throwing him out into the snow. I raise his chakra control and teach him to internally warm himself, while outside snow falls. Doesn't exactly take a genius, but the Old Naruto would have been clueless. _

"Be all smart while you can, Naruto because your about to freeze your ass off!" Ero-Sensei said with a smile. Naruto grimaced before slowly walking towards his sensei and gave him a hug. _It was purely for Ero-Sennin's benefit after all! Had to reassure the man that I would be _fine_. Couldn't go off with Ero-Sennin doubting me_. Naruto said to himself.

Jiraiya was surprised for a second. His godson really didn't do hugs very well. A genuine smile came over his face. No mockery, no perverseness, just a nice smile. Jiraiya hugged his godson back.

"Have fun, Naruto." Jiraiya said.

Naruto looked back at Ero-Sennin before leaving the cabin. They had shared a tender moment, but Naruto had no doubt that when he came back Ero-Sennin would be trying to kick his ass again. _Well, I better just get much stronger where he can't do that anymore!_ Naruto walked into the snow and ice with a smile on his face. He was headed deep into the mountain range.

**Week Later:**

"Its freaking cold!" Naruto yelled out to the world. 'Its freaking cold. Its freaking cold. Its freaking cold.' could be heard back. Naruto's eyes widened. "OH SHIT!" He could already hear the rumbling of the mountain. He looked up, and he so wished he didn't. "Why me?" Naruto sobbed comedically. An avalanche was headed for his position.

Naruto summoned all the speed he could before taking off. Flowing chakra through his legs increased the speed, but it still wasn't enough. The avalanche was growing bigger! _ It seems like it is time to get desperate._

Naruto had been running down a mountain path with a drop off to one side. The path circled the mountain, and Naruto's goal had been to reach the top. He wanted a nice view. His goal was temporarily set aside though because of his stupid scream. Now, his only option was to jump. He really didn't want to jump, but stupidity always has a price. Naruto jumped.

"WAH!" Naruto yelled as he flew through the air. _Hmm, what a wonderful time to know how to fly or at least glide like Temari knows how to do,_ Naruto thought in a brief moment of lucidity.

After a couple of seconds of free-falling, Naruto landed. Hard. At least it was only snow he landed in, or he might have broken his legs... and ribs... and arms. He landed side-ways.

"I really hate, Ero-Sennin's training plans." Naruto grumbled as he got out of the snow. "I haven't seen anything resembling food in two days. I haven't even found a damn cave to rest in. I am eating melted snow, which isn't bad by itself, but I have no fire to melt it fast!" Naruto was in a really bad mood. At least the avalanche had stopped.

GRMM

Or not. Naruto looked up. Overshadowing everything was snow, and it was falling fast. The tears came back. "Why me?" Naruto asked the world. He didn't get an answer.

He got up and started running. As fast and reckless as he could, Naruto ran. Jumping over obstacles and jumping off edges quickly saw him at the bottom of the mountain. He continued running. About half a mile away was another mountain which he was heading for. He figured that he could climb the other mountain and be safe. He was very lucky that he was right.

Gasping for breath at his reckless charge, Naruto stooped to catch his breath. That was not a fun run. He plopped down into the snow with the only thought in his mind being rest. He woke up two hours later the coldest he had ever been in his life! His chakra techniques didn't work very well while he slept.

Quickly restarting his chakra technique, Naruto waited a bit for his body to start warming up. He then looked around at his surroundings. He saw a lot of white. Though he was glad to see that there were more trees higher up on the mountain that he had found himself on. Maybe he could find food! Naruto started climbing.

Climbing a mountain was a lot more difficult than it sounds, and it sounded hard enough as it was. If there was no trail up a mountain, then climbing by hand became necessary. This meant that one hand has to be placed in front of the other while the feet keep the balance. It takes great physical strength to climb mountains this way. Blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention the cold, will all come into play in the humongous challenge of mountain climbing. Or a person could use chakra to vertically walk up the mountain. Naruto didn't want to do that though. He was on a training trip for a reason.

It took Naruto about a day to reach the tree-line. Step by pain-staking step, Naruto had climbed 3/5ths of the mountain. He was starving, bleeding, and quite cold. He wanted meat! Naruto set out to hunt.

**Night:**

MUNCH. "AH, how lucky!" Naruto exclaimed. "Bird sure can taste good!"

Naruto was sitting around a fire that had a staggering six sticks of wood to it. It wouldn't training if he just used fire to warm himself whenever he got cold after all. He had to face the elements head-on!

Naruto had found a cave a small distance away from the last of the trees. The place was perfect. Just outside of the cave was a ledge, and from that edge, the view was majestic! It looked out on a majority of the mountain range with what seemed like all the world in reach. The snow covering the mountains only enhanced the beauty. At night, the stars shone with a radiance Naruto had _never_ seen before! All things considered, he had found the perfect home for his foray into the mountains.

_This is a nice life. I almost wish I could forget my past, abandon the future, and live my life here, under the stars. But, only for a moment. I would get bored fast in a life without trials. _ Naruto thought in amusement. He was laying on the snow under the starry sky. It was nice, but it could not last. He had finally found a place to stay. Tomorrow was the day his real training would start. _Time to advance to the next level. _

**Two Weeks Later:**

The morning dawned as the sun peeked over the mountain tops, and Naruto Uzumaki was there to greet the dawn. He was sitting in a cross-legged position at the very edge of the ledge by his cave. Slowly, spinning around him were chains. They came from the palms of his hands as he focused on increasing his control. As time passed, more and more chains appeared until Naruto almost disappeared behind chains of wind.

As noon approached, Naruto opened his eyes. The color of his jutsu met his eyes. He couldn't even see the mountains or snow surrounding him for the jutsu took up the space. Multiple chains of wind surrounded him from all directions. Naruto smiled. _Objective one: success!_

Naruto had taken Ero-Sennin's words to heart. 'Explore your jutsu and then create one that combines the best of both' were Ero-Sennin's words. Naruto was going to do just that. He was going to make sure his chain jutsu reached infamy!

**One Month Later:**

"I love my genius." Naruto said with a smirk. Naruto was standing in a clearing with tree stumps and tree trunks all around him. He had just unleashed his jutsu, and the trees didn't exactly make it. Naruto raised his arm as he walked towards the only tree he had left standing. Slowly from half-way up his forearm, tiny chains of wind formed in a circle around his arm. They extended and combined until they reached two feet from his fingers-tips. A chain sword was formed. Naruto cut down the tree with a smile on his face.

"Oh, yes. I do love my genius." Naruto said with a laugh.

**One Week Later:**

Naruto was sitting inside his cave staring hard at the back wall. This particular wall bore the brunt of his annoyance. Naruto just couldn't get the stupid application to work right! Everything time he tried to use the **Kaze no Chen **from his feet, it just wouldn't work! Naruto remembered Kakashi-sensei saying that chakra channeling was hardest from the feet, but this was ridiculous! Even using hundreds of clones was having no real help.

After having come up with a close-combat version of his chain jutsu, Naruto had figured that it would be cool to launch chains from his feet if the situation ever arose. It would _definitely_ be surprising. What started out as more of a joke than anything quickly evolved to a valued project which was starting to piss Naruto off. He just couldn't get the damn thing to work!

_Ok, calm down, Naruto. Maybe I am molding the wind chakra wrong. All the wind chakra I have used before has come from my hands, so it would make sense that I am doing it wrong from my feet._ Naruto thought logically as he tried to calm himself down. He really hated not being able to do stuff. _I guess its back to the drawing board then until I can get this down. _Naruto sighed as he walked out into the snow.

**Two Months Later: **

Naruto was whistling happily as he explored one of the mountains he had never been to. Why shouldn't he be happy? Everything was going great! A month ago he had finally figured out how to use the **Kaze no Chen** from _any_ part of his body. His physical conditioning was coming along well. He was pretty well accustomed to the cold by this time. Everything was going swell. Ero-Sennin had even been by a few times and had seemed proud of his progress.

He would have been doing even more training today, but his need for food had overruled his desire to train. Naruto was finding out that a person couldn't stay in one place too long eating all the animals, or the animals would eventually either leave or run out. Naruto needed food!

He was hoping for a bear or deer, but bird sounded just as good. Naruto didn't even care what kind of bird anymore. He had pretty much eaten every kind that made their home in the mountains.

Running through the snow, Naruto looked at his surroundings. Rocks and snow with the occasional tree were all he could see. It was slightly depressing. After the amazing view from his personal mountain, this mountain sucked! It could have sucked because he was at the base of the mountain whereas his mountain cave was at the top, but Naruto chose to ignore common sense this once.

"I really wish I could just sense where the animals are, but I guess not all people are born lucky." Naruto griped. "I mean, I could just be like 'Find Animal', and then I would have my supper, lunch, and breakfast!" Naruto said excitedly. Then he remembered that he couldn't actually do that. He started sulking. Hunger does strange things to people.

Looking up after coming out of his sulk, Naruto finally found what he was looking for. Food! It was only a bird, but any food was good food when the times are tough. Naruto quickly followed the bird on the ground as it flew through the air. Naruto was going to get it when it flew closer to his position. When the bird came into better view, Naruto's eyes widened slightly. He had actually never seen anything like it! _It kinda looks like a bat... just bigger_. Naruto thought quizzically. _Oh well, food is food. _He reasoned.

Naruto timed it just right and threw a kunai at the bird right when it got closest to his position. He hit it. Grabbing up his prize, Naruto closely inspected it. He was right about the looking like a bat part. The bird had the weirdest wings he had ever seen! The extended from its back in the strangest pattern, and they weren't wings so much as sections of... webbing.

"Holy shit! I just got an idea." Naruto said with a grin.

**Two Months Later:**

"Yo, Brat!" Jiraiya yelled out as he saw his apprentice coming into town. The last time Jiraiya had went to test his student, he had told him to come into town in the Land of Frost when his time in the mountains was up. It was time to see the results of training!

Jiraiya had to admit to being impressed. Naruto had no shirt on as he entered town, and many of the girls were staring with slack-jawed awe. Jiraiya chuckled. His godson was starting to get the girls!

The girls _did_ have something to be impressed about. Naruto's body had been chiseled into perfect shape. Rock hard muscles could be seen just about everywhere a muscle could be. Jiraiya couldn't be more proud as he saw one of the girls swoon when Naruto asked her for some water. Naruto was so going into his next book! Maybe under the name of Roneo, or something along those lines.

Samantha didn't have much going for her. She lived in a small village in the small country of the Land of Frost. She knew everyone in her village, and most were pretty boring. The only thing she really had as a positive in her life was her sharp eye-sight. Thus, she was the first to see the absolute god walking into the village!

Samantha's eyes widened to epic proportions as her heart started beating faster, and a blush came to her cheeks. _He. Is. Gorgeous! _ She inwardly squealed. Golden hair that fell to his neck. Abs of steel that shone in the sun. Biceps, oh how she wanted to squeeze his biceps. Pecs that looks _amazing_. And a body and face that had absolutely zero excess fat on it. And the best thing about the boy, he had no shirt on! Samantha was drooling.

Samantha looked around to see her friends... and neighbors... and mom all staring at the blonde-haired person walking into their village. _What! No fair. I saw him first!_ She was _so_ not sharing _this_ dude.

Then the man, who actually looked younger than she first thought, did something that almost caused her to hyperventilate. He walked towards _her_! _He's coming towards me! He's coming towards me! He's coming towards me! Do I look presentable? Is my hair straight? Do I have something in my teeth? _ She thought while panicking.

"Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where I can get some water?" The blonde-haired hunk asked her. Samantha did the only thing any sane girl would do in her position. She fainted.

Naruto sweat-dropped. All he wanted was some water. _Oh well, looks like I will just go over to where Ero-Sennin is waiting. I can already see him getting out his notebook to take notes on this scene. Sigh._ Naruto shook his head slightly as he walked over to his sensei.

"Yo, Ero-Sennin." Naruto said tiredly. He hadn't gotten much sleep in the past two months. His newest jutsu had called to him whenever he tried to sleep. He just couldn't rest well until the jutsu was finished. Naruto could happily, and proudly, say that his newest jutsu was most likely his best yet. It combined the **Kaze no Chen **and the**Kaze no Yaiba**perfectly. He couldn't wait to see Ero-Sennin's astonished face.

"Naruto." Ero-Sennin said with a nod. "I can tell your tired, so how about you go rest at the room I have rented. I will spar with you in a couple of weeks, so you can have some time to adjust to the serious climate change. Going from minus 0˚ F weather to fifty degrees higher must be difficult."

Naruto agreed gratefully. He wanted sleep, and he was going to get it! Naruto headed to the hotel Ero-Sennin had pointed out to him while mentally going over a checklist of all he had accomplished over his time away from Ero-Sennin.

Checklist:

Base skills rose- check

Futon jutsu explored, expanded, adapted, made better- check

New awesome jutsu- check

Ability to pretty much survive anywhere- check

Chakra control increased- check

Strength and speed rose- check

Will to do whatever it takes to defeat Sasuke and Sakura- check

Naruto went to bed with a smile that day. Whatever would come would come. He would be ready to face it head-on without running away or being scared. Naruto was prepared. He had stared death in the face for six months. If he had made even the slightest wrong move on multiple occasions throughout his training, he _would_ have died. Naruto had come to no longer fear death, and that was a particularly lightening experience. Naruto was ready.

**A/N: This chapter had a lighter feel to it in most parts. I hope it was still good to people. I also hope people liked Samantha's POV. It was mainly used to describe Naruto's new look without it being all gay or something from Jiraiya's POV. **

**About the mountain training, I mainly skipped over it except for the important parts because I figured most people wouldn't want to see Naruto struggling to survive in an environment that was vastly different than any he had known before. All the time Naruto didn't spend expanding his skills was spent on gaining food, keeping warm, etc...**

**Naruto did alter the Kaze no Yaiba, but his altering his more like just increasing the quantity. I am sorry I haven't really used that just yet, but Naruto will be basing his newest jutsu off the Kaze no Yaiba and the Kaze no Chen. I will try to work the Kaze no Yaiba in more as the fic continues. A jutsu list will be included most likely in the next chapter showing all the jutsu Naruto knows. **

**Hope people enjoyed it. Review if possible. Even a 'Good' comment makes me happy because it means people liked it. I really don't understand authors who don't like the 'Good' or 'Nice Chapter' reviews. I personally like these comments, and the longer reviews as well, because it means my writing is still good. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

**I got over 60 reviews in response to the last chapter. Wow. Thanks to the people who reviewed.**

**Chapter 9: Wrapping it up**

Naruto concealed himself in the bushes as his target came ever closer to him. It was a simple assignment Ero-Sennin had given him. All he had to do was take out a crime boss who was passing through the area. Simple stuff.

Ero-Sennin had asked Ba-chan for a couple of missions to go on his record, and Naruto wanted to take full advantage of that Ba-chan's generosity. It felt good to be doing missions again. C and B-rank missions were _so_ much better than the D-rank missions he had used to do.

Naruto looked up when he heard the sounds from the approaching party. His target was surrounded by an entourage of, what looked like, thugs. Ten people surrounded a man in the middle in a box formation. Naruto smiled. He wouldn't be hindered at all. He would take out his target without the thugs even knowing he was there.

Once the men were about to pass his position, Naruto acted. Naruto timed his jutsu just right for it to slip between the thugs. Bringing his hand forward, Naruto summoned the wind. Turning the wind into a deadly blade as the wind swirled around his right hand, Naruto thrust his hand forward. An invisible wind blade left from his hand, passed right between two thugs in the box formation, and hit the target! The crime boss, in the middle of his thugs, was split apart by an invisible blade of wind. The thugs were left unharmed.

"**Kaze no Yaiba**, success. Mission complete." Naruto whispered as he took to the trees. "Thats another B-rank to add to my record. Now all I have to do is report into Ero-Sennin." Naruto said to himself. He increased the amount of chakra going to his legs. He had a time-limit after all. _ Ero-Sennin and his stupid tests,_ he thought irritably. _Can't I just complete the mission without the whole time thing. Oh well._ He was supposed to meet up with Ero-Sennin in a nearby town. He didn't want to be late.

"Mission complete, Ero-Sennin. The crime boss is dead." Naruto reported.

Jiraiya looked at his apprentice with an eye twitch. Naruto had been increasingly willing to take on killing missions lately. Naruto, the boy who used to not even seem to know that ninja actually killed people, was taking on assassination missions! It _almost_ saddened him to know that his godson who broke down into tears after his very first kill was probably never coming back. Almost. Now his godson was quite the capable shinobi. Naruto had hardened his heart. The death of his enemies did not have much of an effect on Naruto anymore.

Jiraiya had decided the best thing to train Naruto in after he had returned from the mountains was in experience. Practical experience was something his student was lacking. Naruto might have had all the skills of a powerful jounin, but his mission record was filled with D-rank missions and not much else. Jiraiya couldn't have _his_ student have such a flimsy mission record! He had made the amazingly wise decision to ask Tsunade-hime for some missions in the area they were traveling in at the time, and the rest was history. That was five months ago.

Of course, Jiraiya didn't _stop_ training Naruto. He just moved their training into more familiar territory. Jiraiya had figured some **Rasengan** training would consume their remaining time together, but Naruto had blown that out of the water when he managed to increase the size of the **Rasengan** in a staggering month and a half. Jiraiya hated** Kage Bunshin** sometimes. It was so unfair! He had also given Naruto two simple Suiton jutsus just in case he ever needed them. Jiraiya was not sure if Naruto had actually ever used them in battle before or not. The brat was very attached to his chain jutsu.

Naruto had also learned how to do the **Rasengan** one-handed. Then again, Naruto should have known how to do that from the start. After looking back on it, Jiraiya had to admit that he had been kinda lazy in letting Naruto get away with only learned how to do the **Rasengan** with a clone as support. _Well, I guess thats water under the bridge now. No point in lamenting past actions especially considering how strong Naruto has been able to become. Yep, just a few more years and the boy might have a chance at my level! _He thought with a cocky grin.

"Thats good, Brat. Walk with me." Jiraiya said as he downed his drink and walked out of the bar they was in. "There is only one month left until we return to Konoha. You have grown a lot on this trip, and I think I have found a good graduation exam." Jiraiya informed his apprentice.

"Oh," Naruto said speculatively. "This sounds interesting."

Jiraiya nodded. "One of my more... well-placed informants has told me that one of Orochimaru's elite is going to be heading into River Country soon. My task for you is to eliminate him. I don't know if you ever saw him when you chased after the Uchiha, but it was the fatter one, Jirobo." Jiraiya told his apprentice.

Naruto sweat-dropped at Ero-Sennin's description of the guy. The fatter one... _Not the best description I have ever heard_._ Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter as long as I can take him out. _

Naruto's voice could be heard as they exited the town and started jumping through the trees, "Sounds like fun."

**Three Days Later River Country**

Naruto was _not_ having a fun time. The trip to River Country had gone smoothly enough. Once they got into River Country, Ero-Sennin had split up with him at the small town of Lyke, so Naruto could begin his final test. Ero-Sennin's informant had said that one of Orochimaru's Sound Four would be going into River Country to meet with someone. Naruto's job was to discover who he was meeting with and to take out the member of the Sound Four. The problems first started happening when he actually tried to find the stupid member! The dude was seriously late!

Naruto's head snapped up when he heard a snapping branch to his right._ Maybe the dude is finally here._ He thought with a smile. Naruto was definitely ready for a good challenge.

"Stupid, Bitch. Sending me all the way out here just for some stupid jutsu. Can't Orochimaru-sama just re-create the jutsu?" Jirobo mumbled to himself as he practically flew through the trees.

Jirobo had been traveling with only short breaks since leaving Rice Country. Ever since they had discovered a clan who specialized in a very potent Raiton jutsu, Sasuke just _had_ to learn it. _And so that __stupid bitch just has to send me to get it! Why couldn't the mighty Uchiha go and learn it himself? He has the sharingan after all! All he had to do was look at a clan member using the jutsu for him to basically learn it! _

As Jirobo muttered to himself, Naruto was enhancing his ears while silently following after him. _ I wonder if the Bitch is Sakura_. He thought amusedly. _ I could easily understand if that is her new nickname. Anybody stupid enough to follow a boy into becoming a missing-nin should be considered a bitch. _

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw something heading towards his head. He ducked. When he turned around to see what it was, he was surprised to see it was a giant rock. His eyes quickly darted back to the orange-haired boy. He was gone!

Naruto concentrated his senses on trying to find his enemy. _Ok, he is not anywhere near me, and I don't believe he had the time to get out of my range. That means he is underground somewhere. That ties in with the rock sent at me_. Naruto jumped into the trees after reaching his conclusion. He would be safer the higher up he was.

**GRGHM**

Naruto's eyes widened as the tree he was in started shaking. The damn idiot was causing a freaking earthquake! Naruto started jumping from tree to tree to get out of the jutsu's range. He got out of it safely after narrowly dodging a falling tree.

"Hey, Trash. Why don't you stop cowering up there in those trees and come down here to die!" Jirobo yelled out from his position on the ground.

Naruto scoffed at the stupidity of the boy. Who goes and gives away their position like that? At least if all the other 'Elite' of Orochimaru were this stupid, their defeat would be a piece of cake!

Naruto summoned a clone to fight against the kid below him. Naruto watched in surprise as Jirobo seemed to know right where the clone landed on the ground. The boy rushed his clone and struck it once. The clone poofed away.

Naruto gulped. _That... was a really hard punch. That might very well be close to Ba-chan's strength. Combine that with his Doton abilities and well, I have a slight problem. _

Naruto summoned a couple more clones to attack. They fell in a circle pattern around Jirobo to surround him. Once they hit the ground each clone sped towards the boy in the middle in a staggered attack patter. The Naruto clones went on the offensive using taijutsu and the occasional kunai.

Jirobo snorted. The Trash he was facing was weak! _Well, a little work-out never hurt anyone._ Jirobo stomped his foot on the ground. The earth started to move again.

From out of the ground, spikes appeared and pierced each of the clones. Jirobo then bent down and hit the ground with his hand. "**Doton: Doryō Dango **(Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling)," He called out. Jirobo picked up a huge piece of the earth in his hands. He then threw it at the tree he knew the Trash was hiding in. He really loved his earth sensor power. As long as someone touched something on the ground in his area, he knew where they were.

Naruto almost started crying at the size of the boulder heading towards the tree he was in. _How is he knowing where I am?_ He questioned himself. _Unless he is just guess on where he is throwing that big ass boulder, which I kind of doubt, he must know where I am!_ _That complicates things if he can somehow find me_. Naruto snorted. _ I guess Orochimaru's 'Elites' are not as bad as I fir_st _thought_.

Jumping over the flying boulder, Naruto kicked off a tree to speed towards Jirobo. Kunai in hand, Naruto attacked. Most of his slashes were blocked, but Naruto was able to land a few cuts. Their exchange continued until Jirobo stomped his foot on the ground causing another miniature earthquake to appear.

"This kid has some powerful jutsu. To be able to actually cause an earthquake with only a stomp of the foot is quite impressive." Naruto whispered to himself as he retreated into the trees. He knew he didn't have long if Jirobo could sense him. He would have to make this fast. It was time to level the playing field. Having trees falling everywhere was starting to annoy him.

"**Futon: Kaze no Chen**!" What appeared around Naruto was a veritable whirlwind of chains. Originating from his hands, the chains extended out at alternate distances and heights. They started spinning. Slashing everything around him, the chains quickly decimated the surrounding forest. The chains left only stumps and a lot of firewood. Naruto noticed Jirobo coming into the clearing. He smiled. It was time to fight jutsu with jutsu!

"**Futon: Kaze no Chen**!" Naruto shouted again as he held out his hands at the orange-haired boy. Five chains from each hand flew through the air. Each on was aimed at a critical point on the human body.

Jirobo yelped as he saw what was headed towards him. He quickly ducked the chains, but that didn't help him at all. Naruto just had a couple chains splinter off from the main ones to stab Jirobo through his right arm.

"AH! My arm! You stupid Trash! Your going to pay for this!" Jirobo yelled furiously as he activated his cursed seal. His skin quickly started coloring with marks appearing from his neck. Soon, his whole body turned red. Jirobo was in his cursed seal level 2 form.

Naruto cursed. He didn't like the looks of that! Naruto sent his chains out to attack again. All ten flayed against the red skin. "Shit! Thats all the damage my A-rank wind jutsu did!" Naruto cried out when he saw only medium-sized cuts on the red skin. Those chains should have bisected him! "This is going to be a pain."

Jirobo, on the other hand, was shocked at how much damage _he_ had taken. His cursed seal second form granted his skin a great hardness. He shouldn't have been bleeding freely like he was from just one attack. _Maybe this kid isn't trash after all._..

"Hey, Freak!" Naruto shouted. "How about you give me all the info you have on the Sound Four , Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno, and I might allow you to leave here alive!"

Jirobo started chuckling. Then laughing. Then he started laughing manically. He didn't like to be looked down upon, especially by some snot-nosed kid! It was time to teach the kid a lesson!

"HAHAHAHAHA! I am going to kill you Trash! Time for you to die, Trash!" Jirobo yelled hysterically.

"Uh, I think he just went off the deep end." Naruto said with a sweat-drop.

Jirobo rushed the blond kid. Using his Arhat Fist style of fighting, Jirobo began a vicious taijutsu battle. All he needed was one hit, and the blond kid would be dead!

Naruto was starting to sweat. He could tell that he was better at taijutsu, but his opponent wasn't bad either. And with the strength Jirobo had shown earlier, Naruto knew that he couldn't take even a glancing blow without serious injury. One blow could very easily put him out of the battle for good.

Naruto blocked a fist thrust at his face by pushing the wrist above his head. An idea started to form when he saw Jirobo's yell of outrage. If the skin was too tough, aiming for an unprotected area was the logical thing to do. Naruto slowly started creating wind around his right hand where Jirobo would not sense it. He was going to win this in one attack.

After blocking another attack at his face using his left hand, Naruto waited. He waited. Jirobo yelled out in outrage again at his near miss. There! Naruto sharpened the wind as much as he could before thrusting his hand forward. "**Futon: Kaze no Yaiba**!" He shouted.

An invisible blade of wind shot out from his hand as a visible wind current masked its movement. It went right through Jirobo's mouth into his brain! It killed him instantly.

"Hahaha," Naruto laughed. "I won! So much for Ero-Sennin's 'final challenge'. I didn't even have to use my strongest attack." He crowed. Naruto felt like he was on a high! Taking down a semi-decent opponent after a challenging fight with his life on the line, nothing could compare to that feeling!

"Though this guy's strength and Doton manipulation were surprising, along with that seal ability of his, I would only rate him at medium jounin level." Naruto said out loud after he started calming down from the battle. He thought about it a bit more before saying. "Maybe Elite Jounin... maybe."

At a whisper of sound from the body, Naruto turned back around to see that Jirobo had returned to a more human looking form in death. "That's interesting." He said conversationally.

"It sure is. It is also interesting to see just how far Orochimaru has come with his cursed seal. Anko Mitarashi from Konoha has a cursed seal, but hers is nothing like the one I just saw. She can't do half what _that_ boy could." Ero-Sennin said as he walked over to stare down at the dead body.

Naruto nodded thoughtfully at the useful information. He didn't know that about Anko who, if he remembered correctly, was his old Chunin Exam instructor. He was also not surprised that Ero-Sennin was around. It wouldn't have been much of a test if Ero-Sennin couldn't judge his performance.

"I guess that means Sasuke will have one as well." Naruto said quietly.

"Most likely, but you also can't ignore the fact that Sakura could also have one. From what I have seen, anyone who has a cursed seal will automatically get a major power upgrade. If you find yourself fighting either one of them _or_ anymore of Orochimaru's Elites, you will have to be very careful." Ero-Sennin said while walking over to place his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto gave his sensei a nod before looking at the body one more time. _I still have a long road to go. It was probably better for me not to have used my newest attack anyway. It is nowhere near the level I know it can be. A powerful supplementary jutsu like that should be able to accomplish a whole lot more than I have previously been able to do. Especially considering the whole point of the jutsu! I am going to have to work even harder to get to Ero-Sennin's level. _ Naruto shook his head. _ Fun times are ahead it seems_. Pupil and sensei walked out of the clearing heading for a much needed rest.

After they arrived at the hotel they were staying in and Jiraiya made sure that Naruto was asleep, Jiraiya summoned a toad. Jiraiya summoned Gerotora.

"Why have you summoned me, Jiraiya?" Gerotora asked petulantly.

"It is time to start teaching Naruto how to control the Kyuubi." Jiraiya told the toad. "Naruto's will is strong. He _can_ do it. To do this though, I am going to need you to loosen the Seal." Jiraiya said seriously.

Gerotora looked outraged. "Are you out of your mind, Jiraiya? Weakening the seal that holds back the Kyuubi is folly! I will not do it!" He said while turning his head away.

Jiraiya sweat-dropped. _For someone so serious, why did he do such a childish action like turning his head away_? He thought amusedly before getting back on task.

"Naruto _must_ learn. He _must_ learn how to control the Kyuubi!" Jiraiya stated passionately. "Otherwise, I fear that Naruto will lose control of the Kyuubi's power when he needs its the most. I _have_ to start now. I _can't_ teach him this when he goes back to Konoha! It has to be _now_. Minato wanted Naruto to learn how to control. I _know_ this! I need you to loosen the seal!" Jiraiya said aggressively. He was _not_ taking no for an answer.

Gerotora turned his head and looked at Jiraiya before blowing out his breath. He looked away again. After a few seconds, he turned back to look at Jiraiya. At seeing the same determined face, Gerotora sighed. _This is so going to be a bad idea!_ He lamented.

"Fine," He muttered grumpily.

Jiraiya flashed the toad a grin. "Hey, don't worry. I have everything under control." He said confidently.

**One Weeks Later:**

"**ROOOAAARRRR!**"

_Shit. Shit. Shit!_ Jiraiya thought desperately as he dodged attack after attack. _ And everything had been going so good too! _

Naruto currently had _five_ tails displayed behind him in what looked like a miniature version of the Kyuubi. Naruto's will had held up strong though. He had been able to use three tails with minimum interference from the Fox. Naruto had _even_ been able to use the fourth tail to a decent degree though the Fox's Will had made him extremely easy to anger. Still, Naruto had been able to control the fourth tail decently. _The fifth tail however... Well, the only thing I can say about the fifth tail is SHIT!_ Everything had started going wrong when Naruto tried to gain control of the fifth tail.

Naruto was now rampaging throughout the plain they were on. Jiraiya was just glad that he had decided to do this training out in the wilderness. With the power he was displaying now, Naruto could destroy a whole city!

Jiraiya had one chance to stop him. He had to get the seal on Naruto! It was the only way! The problem with that plan was that Jiraiya's left leg had been turned into a mess of flesh along with a good-sized portion of his chest was missing. The injuries would heal up fine, but _only_ if he survived the night!

Jiraiya started moving to try to get closer to Naruto. Jiraiya noticed that Naruto shot its head up when he moved. Then it started running towards him. Jiraiya gulped. It was kind of a scary sight. He started moving again. He had one chance to stop Naruto's rampage.

Quickly biting his thumb, Jiraiya summoned. "**Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu **(Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique)!" He yelled out.

Suddenly, a huge toad appeared above the charging Naruto. With all the force of gravity and its own sheer weight, the toad fell! It landed right on the Kyuubi-fied Naruto! The ground _shook_ with the power behind the landing. Jiraiya acted quick. He rushed forward and placed the seal on the arm that was sticking out from beneath the behemoth. He also quickly de-summoned the toad to make sure Naruto didn't get crushed when the Fox's chakra left him.

There he was. _ Thank God. Naruto is Ok._ He was greatly relieved. His godson was once again before him even though he looked like he had gone through a blender. His skin, well, there wasn't much skin remaining. Blood covered him. It was a messy sight. Jiraiya laughed. They must have looked just alike! Godson and godfather, teacher and pupil, both covered in wounds and seemingly on their last leg. Jiraiya knew though that both he and Naruto would be healed before the week was out. All he had to do was make sure both of them were well rested before any training or fighting occurred again.

Sigh. _The things I do for my student. _

**Days Before Returning to Konoha**

"So your coming right?" Naruto asked his friend excitedly as he looked out into the desert from the window. "I mean you have been a kage for a year or two now, so it should be easy for you to come and watch me kick some ass right!"

Gaara looked at Naruto funny. It was _amusing_ to see Naruto this excited. Ever since Jiraiya had informed Naruto about the chunin exams in Konoha that were happening around the week they returned, Naruto had been all set on finally making chunin. He also wanted Gaara to be there to witness 'Naruto's Rise', as Naruto called it. The first big step on Naruto's way to becoming a kage.

For some strange reason, their friendship had only gotten better. Naruto had been in Suna for a little over two weeks. They had spent much of that time in each other's company. Gaara had even given Naruto a glimpse into the life of a kage, and all the politics that went with it.

Gaara's understanding on the reason he was here was that Naruto had tried to control too much of the Kyuubi's power within him, and he had suffered massive physical trauma from it. They were already near River Country, so going to rest in Suna was the logical thing to do. Gaara and his siblings were glad for that decision. They enjoyed Naruto's company, and they always allowed him to stay at their place when he came to Suna.

"I will consider it. I am already sending Temari tomorrow to head to Konoha to discuss the Chunin Exams. I will consider going as well." Gaara said in a monotone.

Naruto smiled at his friend as he turned away from the window to look at him. "Thanks, Gaara."

Naruto turned back to the window to look out on the peaceful village. He was deep in though for a while before speaking. "Its just about time for me to get this view." He said quietly. "When I become Hokage, I will make sure that the peaceful view from _my_ window will not change. I will become the strongest Hokage in history, and protect my people just like you protect yours. It is almost time, Gaara." He said as he looked back into the eyes of his fellow jinchuriki and friend.

Gaara did not doubt a single word.

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter is over a week late. I had a little trouble writing this chapter though the ending came to me easily. Next chapter is Naruto back in Konoha, and I am already starting to change canon up as you can see from the end of this chapter. For any who are wondering, there will be a pairing later, so don't worry about it for now. Its not going to be yaoi. **

**Shikamaru is the main proctor/director and holds the chunin exams during the same time as the Gaara rescue mission happens in canon. The exams were over by the time Naruto got back, and he was not gone that long. I am planning for mainly an intellectual and short exam, so it should be funny to see how Naruto does in it. **

**Thanks for all the reviewers. By the time I finished this chapter, I had over 150 reviews. Thanks.**


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